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Title: A tour through North America
Together with a comprehensive view of the Canadas and the United States, as adapted for agricultural emigration
Author: Patrick Shirreff
Release date: November 23, 2025 [eBook #77303]
Language: English
Original publication: Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1835
Credits: Richard Tonsing, Tim Miller, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Books project.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TOUR THROUGH NORTH AMERICA ***
A TOUR
THROUGH
NORTH AMERICA;
TOGETHER WITH
A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW
OF THE
CANADAS AND UNITED STATES.
AS ADAPTED FOR AGRICULTURAL EMIGRATION.
BY PATRICK SHIRREFF, FARMER,
MUNGOSWELLS, EAST LOTHIAN.
EDINBURGH.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, PAUL’S WORK, CANONGATE.
PUBLISHED BY OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO.,
LONDON; DAVID ROBERTSON, GLASGOW; AND WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND CO.,
DUBLIN.
1835.
TO
MR JOHN DEANS,
PENSTON, EAST LOTHIAN.
MY DEAR DEANS,
I dedicate the following tour to you, who had an opportunity of judging
of many of the scenes and occurrences which I have described. Your
candour and honesty have long been known to me, and I hope the
sentiments and the feelings expressed in the succeeding pages, will be
found to accord with your own character.
It has been said that I was appointed by a party of East Lothian farmers
to visit and report on the Canadas and the United States; but nothing
could be more unfounded. A younger brother having expressed a wish to
try his fortune as an American farmer, I resolved to explore the country
for the purpose of enabling me to give an opinion on the step which he
contemplated. With this single object in view, my Transatlantic
excursion was originally planned, and afterwards performed, unfettered
and unassisted by any party whatever.
Having been led to travel from a sense of fraternal duty, I would have
willingly remained satisfied with simply accomplishing the object of my
journey, being aware how recently some individuals of the highest
attainments had published works on America, and how ill qualified I am,
in some respects, to convey an accurate impression of a country and
people so interesting. But the solicitations of friends induced me to
give my opinions to the public, and the result will, perhaps, prove
their partiality to have been greater than their discernment.
Having passed much of my time apart from fashion and politics, the
position which I occupied in the world may not have been favourable to
an impartial view of all which came under my notice. My acquaintance
with agriculture enabled me, however, to judge of American farming
without relying on the opinions of others, and, while listening
patiently to much which was told me, I drew conclusions only from what I
saw.
In measuring the advantages of the different parts of the country by the
standards of nature, and the reward of agricultural industry by produce,
I hope to have departed from custom without having been led into error.
Nature is the most general and invariable of agricultural tests.
Want of information is a complaint which has been brought against
treatises on emigration, and the charge in all probability arises from
diversity of human character; one mind being incapable of furnishing all
requisite information to another, without previously knowing what is
required. The first part of this publication is intended to show the
opportunities which I had of seeing the country, and the second part to
aid in forming an opinion of the different places of settlement. I have
aimed only to impress the understanding of the reader, and should any of
my representations and conclusions be found to differ from reality, I
shall regret having written a word on the subject.
The common currency of the United States and the Canadas consists of
dollars, expressed by the character $, and worth about four shillings
and threepence sterling. The dollar is divided into one hundred cents,
of about the value of a British halfpenny each. In the State of New York
and Upper Canada the dollar is divided into eight shillings, or sixteen
sixpences currency. In Lower Canada the dollar consists of five
shillings currency. The dollar of Illinois is divided as in the State of
New York, but the shilling is often called a “_bit_” and the sixpence a
“_piccayune_.”
I was not aware of any circumstance which could possibly influence my
judgment in favour of one portion of America more than another, until I
heard that my brother Charles had fixed on Illinois as his place of
residence. Like myself, he had seen Upper Canada before visiting
Illinois, and his preference of the latter district may be regarded by
some individuals as corroborative of the opinions which I have
expressed, and by others as the cause of my partiality. But since an
inducement to praise Illinois may exist, my statements regarding it
ought to be carefully examined.
Being a farmer in the strictest sense of the word, and having written
the volume at intervals snatched from professional duties, I make no
pretensions to correctness, much less to elegance of composition. My
only aim has been to state plainly and freely what appeared to be truth,
and I trust this will be received as an apology for any inaccuracies of
style which may be discovered, and for such dogmatical and homespun
expressions as may be considered inconsistent with good taste.
PATRICK SHIRREFF.
MUNGOSWELLS,
_10th January, 1835_.
CONTENTS.
TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA.
PAGE
CHAP. I.—Journey to Liverpool—Lady and Child—Dine at
Lancaster—Impostors at Manchester—Railway—Lateness of the
season—Desecration of the Sabbath—Agricultural details—Napoleon
packet-ship—Cemetery—Mr Huskisson, 1
CHAP. II.—Voyage from Liverpool to New
York—Sea-sickness—Crew—Passengers—Details—Approach to New
York—Washington Hotel, 5
CHAP. III.—Theatre—Mrs Trollope’s Work—Customhouse
Officer—Race-course—Details—Westhouses Breeding
Stud—Thunderstorm—Return to the Hotel—Excursion to Long
Island—Newtown—Flushing—Agriculture in the Neighbourhood of New
York, 9
CHAP. IV.—Journey from New York to Philadelphia—Steam-boat—Railway
Coach—Militia Muster—American and British soldiers—Characters of
Travellers—Mansion-house Hotel—Funeral—Excursion to
Holmsburg—Hotel-keepers in America and Ireland—Mr W * *—Mr F *
*—Sir John Sinclair of America—Fair Mount—Naval
Yard—Philadelphia—Return to New York—Face of the
Country—Agricultural Details, 17
CHAP. V.—New York—Damask hair-cloth manufactory—Dr H * * *,
President Jackson, and Black Hawk—Hyde Park—Residences in
America and Britain—Taste for Flowers—Cattle and Sheep—Scenery
of the Hudson and Clyde—Fast Eating—Albany—Coach
Passengers—Women working in Fields, 27
CHAP. VI.—Journey from Albany to Boston—New
Lebanon—Pittsfield—Road Repairing—The Features of the
Country—Rhododendrons—Northampton—Mr Stuart’s Description of
Northampton—Stage Passengers—Mode of
Courtship—Villages—Agricultural Notices, 36
CHAP. VII.—Journey from Boston to
Lowell—Lynn—Salem—Newburghport—Female waiters, or
helps—Agricultural Notices—Stage passengers—Lowell—Manufacturing
Females—American and British manufacturers—House
building—Benevolent Societies—Water Power—Manufacturing power of
Britain and the United States—Notices of Nature, 42
CHAP. VIII.—Journey from Lowell to Saratoga—Keene—Bellows
Falls—Townsend—Arlington—Driver at Table—Landlord and
Driver—Passage of the Green Mountains—Stage Coach practices of
America and Britain—Passengers and Travellers—Juvenile
politeness—Agricultural Notices—New England Villages—Free School
Education unfairly estimated by British travellers—Education of
Scotland and the United States—Public Schools—Fagging in the
Seminaries of Britain—Principles of Education, 48
CHAP. IX.—Company at Saratoga—Fast Eating—Notices of Buel Farm—Mr
Buel—New York—State Agricultural Society—Advantages of a young
country—Farmers of Britain and the States—British Agricultural
Societies, 57
CHAP. X.—Journey to Geneva—Schenectady—Question Asking—Stage
Driver—Valley of Mohawk—Agricultural Duties—Utica—Attention to
Females—Marcellus—Skeneatiles—Cayuga Bridge—Dinner
Party—Dumfries-shire Farmer—Sheep Husbandry—Condition of
Animals—Farms—Geneva, 74
CHAP. XI.—Journey from Geneva to Lewistown—Land offered for
Sale—Canandaigua—Genesee Country—Variations of
temperature—Agricultural Notices—American and Scotch notions of
Reverted Wheat—Genesee Flats—Mr Wadesworth—Avon—Wood
Bridges—Girdling Trees—Falls of the Genesee—Rochester—Ridge
Road—Face of the Country, 81
CHAP. XII.—Niagara River and Falls—Carving—Entrance to
Canada—Cavern beneath the Falls—Rapids—City Building—Stage
Passenger—General Brock’s Monument—Letters—Maps—Queenstown and
Niagara—Agricultural Notices—King—Old Settlers—Disappointment
with Canada, 88
CHAP. XIII.—Baffled in reaching the Western States—Buffalo—4th of
July—Oneida Indians—Fort Erie—Early Marriages—David
Baxter—Petersburgh—Separate from Companions—Musquittoes—Settlers
around Dunville—Earing of Wheat—Dunville—Face of the
Country—Notices of Nature—Breaking Fruit-trees—Bar-room
Group—Junction with Companions—Visit a New
Settler—Politicians—Hamilton—York, 97
CHAP. XIV.—Excursion to Lake Simcoe—Hope—David
Willson—Meeting-house—Tenets of the Children of
Peace—Northumberland Farmer—Soil—Notices—Excursion to
Niagara—Scenery of Lake Ontario—Return to York, 106
CHAP. XV.—Journey from York to Coburg—Mail Waggon—Mr
Somerville—Agricultural Notices—Clay Kneading—Female Helps
seating themselves at Table—Port Hope—Coburg—Agricultural
Notices—Fast Eating—Excursion to
Peterborough—School-Fellow—Peterborough—Rice Lake—Notices of
Nature and Agriculture—Settlers—High Price of Land—Injudicious
Settlement—Bay of Quinte—Indian Settlement—Canada
Thistle—Kingston—Storekeepers and Store-pay—Grasshoppers—Lake of
the Thousand Isles—River St Lawrence, 119
CHAP. XVI.—Excursions around Montreal—Township of
Hinchinbrooke—River Chateauguay—Kinds of Houses—Bushmen and
Farmers—Squatters—Price of Land—Flag Staffs—Huntingdon—Isle
Bourdeaux—Face of the Country around Montreal—Farming of old
Settlers—French Canadians—Laprairie—Wheat Fly—Cheap Purchase
Chambly—Cheap Education—Mistake Roads—Horse Ferry-boat—Starving
out—Mountain—Race Course—State of Agriculture around
Montreal—Montreal, 130
CHAP. XVII.—Journey from Montreal to Hamilton—Separation of
Friends—Rideau Canal—Emigrants passing up the St
Lawrence—Massena—Waddington—Ogdensburgh—Lake of the Thousand
Isles—Andrew Dinwoodie, a Farmer from Dumfries-shire—Live-stock
from England—Innkeeper of Kingston—Great Britain
Steamer—Emigrant Passengers—John By Steamer, 142
CHAP. XVIII.—Journey on the Banks of the Grand River—Corduroy
Roads—River-side Vegetation—Cradling—Settler from
Edinburgh—Reserve of the Six Nations—Nellis Settlement—Indian
Notices—Settler from Perthshire—First Settlers—Gentle
Children—Agricultural Notices—Great Heat—Drinking Water—Raising
Bee—Brantford—Oak Openings—Paris—Galt—Guelph—Waggoner at
Table—Face of the Country—Dutch Hotel, 149
CHAP. XIX.—Journey from Galt to Goderich—Farmer from
Roxburghshire—Female Worth—Improved Health of Scotch
Farmers—Visit Captain A * * *—Humming-birds—London Family in the
Bush—Guides—Avon Accommodation—German Settler—Notices of Nature, 164
CHAP. XX.—Goderich Hotels—Eagle’s Nest—Doctor Dunlop—Cheap
Dinner—Search for an East Lothian Farmer—Goderich—Poverty of
Settlers—Canada Company—State of Goderich Settlement—Journey to
London—Mr T * * *—Aux Sable Creek—Ship-builder from Essex—Negro
Settlement—Notices of Nature—Robinson Hotel—Mode of
Travelling—Huron Track Roads—London—St Thomas—Port
Stanley—Emigrants from Argyleshire—Dirty Beds—Agricultural
Notices, 172
CHAP. XXI.—Colonel Talbot’s Residence—Camp-meeting—Barn—Mrs
Aldgeo—Moravian Indian Village—Cheap Fruit—Runaway
Slaves—Excursion to Bear Creek—Mr Goose—Soil—Agricultural
Notices—River Thames—Unhealthy Appearance of
Inhabitants—Chatham—Plains—John Macdonald—Colborne
Furnace—Neighbourhood of Amherstburgh—French Inn, 183
CHAP. XXII.—Horse Hiring—French Inn—Negro Family—Prairie—Supplied
with Oats—Mouth of the Thames—Elephant—Yorkshiremen—Want of
Conveyance—Old Settler—Prairie—Face of the Country and
Soil—Notices of French Inhabitants, and their Agriculture—Huron
Indians and their Agriculture—Royalists and their
Agriculture—Notices of Nature—Detroit
River—Amherstburgh—Sandwich—Ferry—Detroit, 200
CHAP. XXIII.—Journey from Detroit to Chicago—Thrashing
Machine—Face of the Country in Michigan—Prairie Hen—White Pigeon
Prairie—Travelling Party—La Porte—Cooking Breakfast—Jaded
Horses—Thunder Storm—Hovel on the Shore of Lake Michigan—Face of
the Country—Notices of Nature—Chicago—Indian
Treaty—Horse-racing—Intoxication—Fair—Occurrences at Chicago, 217
CHAP. XXIV.—Journey from Chicago to Springfield—Oak
Plains—Travellers—Crowded House—Du
Page—Benighted—Clatterman’s—Ottawa—Family from New
England—Travellers—Gouging—Sleeping Accommodation—Peoria—Pekin
Storekeeper—Salt Creek—Hospitality of
Inhabitants—Springfield—Prairies—Notices of Nature—Face of the
Country—Soil—Agricultural Notices, 231
CHAP. XXV.—Journey from Springfield to St
Louis—Jacksonville—Emigrant from Edinburgh—Beds—Face of the
Country—Alton—Mississippi—Luxuriant Vegetation—Bottoms—Mamelle
Prairie—Mr Flint—St Charles—River Missouri—Notices of
Nature—Indian Antiquities—St Louis, 251
CHAP. XXVI.—Voyage from St Louis to
Cincinnati—Mississippi—Ohio—Falls of the Ohio—Passengers—Details
of the Voyage—Notices in Natural History—Vessels on the
River—Louisville—Hotel—Steam-boats—Inquisitive
Irishman—Tobacco-squirting American—Advantages of Shabby Attire
to Travellers—Mr Hamilton’s Account of Men and Manners in the
Western Steam-boats—Cincinnati—Agricultural Notices, 265
CHAP. XXVII.—Journey from Cincinnati to Detroit—Macadamized
Road—Lebanon—Passengers—Agricultural
Notices—Pawpaws—Cider-making—Hotels of the United States—Customs
of the Country—Columbus—Details to Sandusky—Mr Hamilton on the
Prospects of the
Union—Sandusky—Cider-making—Perrysburg—Mamee—Ohio—Michigan, 284
CHAP. XXVIII.—Journey from Detroit to New York—Western Lakes which
form the River St Lawrence—Cleveland—Erie Canal—Cold
Weather—Canal Packets—Sabbath School Children at Rochester—Black
Children—Slavery in the United States—Agricultural
Notices—Washington Hotel—Transition from Rudeness to
Refinement—Travelling—Cheap Land—State Election—Inhabitants
Consulted in Political Matters—Arrival at Liverpool, 305
A VIEW OF THE CANADAS AND UNITED STATES, AS ADAPTED FOR AGRICULTURAL
EMIGRATION.
CHAP. I.—System of Nature Reproductive and Progressive, when aided
by Man—Soil is a Workshop—Nature and Man manufacturing
Produce—East Lothian Agriculture—Corn Laws—Leases—Competition
for Land—Situation of Tenants—Situation of Hinds—Prospects of
the People connected with Land, 327
CHAP. II.—Persons engaged in American Agriculture—American and
British Agriculture—Application of Capital and Labour to
Cultivation—Rent—Price of Land—Proportions of Nature—Capital and
Labour in the Production of Farm Produce, and their Distribution
in Britain and America—Capital required to Stock a Farm in both
Countries—Unhealthiness of America—Climate—State of
Society—Situation of Young Men without Capital—Choosing America
or Britain, 340
CHAP. III.—Lower Canada—Inhabitants—Climate—Soil—Mode of Selling
Land—Productions and Prices—Farming near Montreal—Climate
affecting Agriculture and Farmers, 350
CHAP. IV.—Upper Canada—Inhabitants—Climate—Soil—Mode of Selling
Land, and Prices—Bad Effects of Selling on Credit—Situation of
Settlers without Capital—Price of Land in Upper Canada, and the
Western United States—Price of Land, and Mode of Settlement
Injurious to the Province—Suggestions for Improving the State of
the Country, 356
CHAP. V.—Productions—Agricultural Societies—Want of
Pasturage—Progress of Forest Settlement—First Crops on Forest
Land—Worn-out Soil—Mildewed Wheat—Misrepresentations of
Canada—Mr Ferguson’s Statement—Township of Nichol—Praises and
Detractions—Choosing a Situation—Advantages and Disadvantages of
Upper Canada for different Emigrants—State of the
Inhabitants—Constitution—Game, 368
CHAP. VI.—United States—Climate—Diseases—Productions—Agriculture
East of the Alleghany Mountains—Agriculture West of the
Mountains—Wages—Choice of Residence—Progress of Wealth—Wages of
the United States and the Canadas—Profits of Capital, 391
CHAP. VII.—Wealth and Refinement of Different Parts—Writers on
American Manners—Plainness—Civility—New England Character—Unfair
Dealing—Emigrant’s Situation and Character—Government—United
States and Upper Canada, 403
CHAP. VIII.—Illinois—Climate—Face of the
Country—Prairies—Soil—Salt—Lead—Iron—Coal—Water
Communication—History—Towns—Government—Education—Kentucky
Population—New Englanders—Pioneers—Manners and Customs, 419
CHAP. IX.—Productions—Animals—Fowls—Country for Sporting—Mode of
Selling Land—Unsold Public Land—Number of Indians—Government
Policy towards the Indians—War with Indians—Decrease of
Population—Agriculture—Wages of Labour—Illinois and Upper
Canada, 434
CHAP. X.—Prairie Agriculture—Capital Required—Crops and
Prices—Wages of Labour Compared with Land and Produce in
Illinois and Britain—Future Prospects—Sheep Husbandry—Illinois
and Upper Canada—Illinois and Britain—The Canadas and Illinois
estimated by the standard of Nature—Emigrant Information, 445
TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
_Journey to Liverpool—Lady and Child—Dine at Lancaster—Impostors at
Manchester—Railway—Lateness of the season—Desecration of the
Sabbath—Agricultural Details—Napoleon packet-ship—Cemetery—Mr
Huskisson._
I left Mungoswells on the 20th of April, 1833, and proceeded from
Haddington to Edinburgh by the Earl Grey stage-coach, drawn by a pair of
thoroughbred bays, in charge of Quinten Campbell, a most excellent
driver, who landed us at the end of the journey, a distance of seventeen
miles, in less than an hour and a half, without an application of the
whip.
After spending a few hours in Edinburgh, two friends, who intended
accompanying me on a transatlantic tour, and myself, were seated in a
Manchester coach, and we arrived at Carlisle about five in the morning
of the following day.
During a few minutes’ delay which occurred in changing coaches at
Carlisle, a waiter at the inn asked us to partake of breakfast; and
resented our declining to do so, by saucily refusing to exchange small
silver-money for a half-crown piece. My friend and I here agreed to take
an outside place alternately, to accommodate a lady and child with an
inside one. In course of the day I learned from the lady that she was
booked as a passenger from Dumfries to London, and had, to her regret,
been detained a whole day at Carlisle. It was evident that this
unprotected female and her innocent charge had been imposed upon, and
her escape from a second day’s detention was entirely owing to the
little concession of my friend and self in her favour.
Breakfast was served at Penrith, and the party complained loudly of the
fare placed before them. The stage passengers were joined by other
travellers at Lancaster, where eighteen in number dined together,
carving for themselves, and several partaking of hot punch, in the space
of twenty minutes, which was the whole delay at Lancaster.
We reached Manchester a little after nightfall, where we spent the
evening; and one of my friends not having sufficient change to settle
with the guard and driver of the coach, he soon afterwards paid them in
the coffeeroom. Next morning two different individuals presented
themselves, as deputed by guard and driver to receive their allowance.
My friend good-humouredly rallied the impostors on the hopelessness of
their attempt, and they seemed to feel the force of his satire more than
they perhaps would have done a scolding. I have noticed the treatment of
the lady and child at Carlisle, as well as the impostors at Manchester,
in consequence of a lecture from a fellow-passenger on Yankee knavery,
and a well-meant advice to guard myself against American duplicity.
Without meaning to impeach the character of my fellow-countrymen, I may
remark that the natives of Britain need not illustrate moral delinquency
by examples from other countries. Mankind seem to be, nationally as
individually, sensible of the faults of others, although, at the same
time, they are blind to their own.
We travelled from Manchester to Liverpool by the railway, on the morning
of the 22d, and accomplished a distance of thirty miles in an hour and a
half. Several miles were performed in two minutes, according to my
stop-watch. At the request of a friend, I occupied a place on the
outside of a way coach, and was much annoyed by the current of air and
coke from the engine. My eyes did not recover the effects of the coke
for forty-eight hours afterwards.
On the east coast of Scotland the season had proved to be one of the
wettest and latest on record. At the time of our departure the vegetable
kingdom had scarcely responded to the vivifying influence of spring—the
buds of the hawthorn and the larch were expanding only in sheltered
places. England did not present a more advanced vegetation. We were
fortunate, however, in obtaining the first good weather of the season
for our journey; and, notwithstanding the bleakness of nature, the ever
varying scene afforded many objects fitted for contemplation. We crossed
the line separating England from Scotland early on Sunday morning, and
for many miles afterwards the roads were covered with herds of cattle
and flocks of sheep, travelling towards the south. This was a novel
sight to a Scotsman; such practices on Sabbath being prohibited by the
laws of his country. The desecration of the Lord’s day may, perhaps, to
a certain extent, be traced in the customs of every Christian country,
but in no case whatever ought appearances to be regarded as the measure
of religious feeling, the seat of which is hid from human eye. Without
assigning to my countrymen purity and intensity of religious emotion, I
may be permitted to say, a Scottish Sabbath is marked throughout by a
still, quiet, external decorum, seldom met with in other parts of the
world, which fosters piety, and checks an open display of profanity. I
trust her inhabitants will ever respect and preserve its solemnity of
character.
The land from Carlisle to Manchester seemed, generally, poor and
indifferently cultivated. The enclosures are small in size, often
surrounded by irregular fences, formed and maintained at a sacrifice of
soil and labour. Many of the grass fields were studded with lean young
horses and cattle, industriously seeking a repast which nature still
sparingly supplied. Betwixt Manchester and Liverpool, much of the grass
lands had been ploughed with a furrow slice, only two and three inches
in depth. Three stout horses yoked in line, the first of which was led
by a boy, were seen dragging a small harrow, kept on a narrow convex
ridge, by means of a man with a rope operating like a rudder, and he was
apparently the only severely worked animal engaged in the operation. The
agriculturists of Britain being deemed enlightened, and her soil not
producing a sufficient quantity of food for the population, it was
painful to witness land so mismanaged and labour so misapplied. This
anomaly may, perhaps, be accounted for, by the genius of the inhabitants
of this district having long been successfully applied to manufactures;
and neither soil nor climate being congenial to agriculture; together
with entails, tythes, and corn laws, checking the devotion of skill and
capital to cultivation. Chatmoss, through which the railway passes,
seems, however, an exception, and I regretted time did not permit an
examination of the interesting management it is under, with which I had
become acquainted by means of periodicals devoted to rural affairs.
On reaching Liverpool, our first proceeding was to search for a
conveyance to New York, which we obtained in the Napoleon packet-ship;
the commander, Captain Smith, resigning his cabin to my friend and me,
the other berths in the ship having been previously engaged, with
exception of one which was required for our companion.
Part of the 22d, 23d, and 24th, was spent in viewing the attractions of
Liverpool, the chief of which, in my estimation, is the cemetery. This
repository of mouldering humanity has been recently formed, and its
numerous beauties have not been matured or mellowed by time. Trees,
shrubs, and flowers, were diminutive, and generally in their winter
garb, which fully displayed the memorials to the gaze of visitants. The
cenotaph to Mr Huskisson stands near the centre, and can seldom fail of
fixing for a time the attention, and exciting the sympathies of his
countrymen. The world is now enjoying the green fruits of his genius,
with prospect of increasing and lasting supply, while the laurels of
contemporary warriors are barren and fading. So long as the principles
of free trade are cherished and acted on, the memory of Huskisson will
endure.
CHAPTER II.
_Voyage from Liverpool to New
York—Sea-sickness—Crew—Passengers—Details—Approach to New
York—Washington Hotel._
At noon, on the 24th April, the Napoleon got under weigh, and was towed
down the Mersey by a steamer, in consequence of an adverse wind. In
little more than an hour from the time of sailing, I became sea-sick,
which afflicted me severely for nearly thirty days, and frustrated the
little plans of recreation and amusement which I had formed on shore.
Although appearing only once or twice at table, the attention of
friends, and the situation of my berth, enabled me to know much that was
passing on board. I shall not, however, chronicle many events which took
place during the voyage, which some of my shipmates will readily pardon.
The establishment of the Napoleon consisted of about thirty, embracing
men of every country and of every clime. There were eighty passengers in
the steerage, and thirty in the cabin, eight of whom were ladies.
England and Scotland furnished each five gentlemen, cabin passengers;
Ireland, two; and the United States of America, three, one of whom had
been naturalized from Ireland. All the individuals from England and
Ireland, one from Scotland, and two from America, smoked. In some cases,
the use of tobacco was immoderate, one gentleman smoking a hundred and
fifty segars in fourteen days; the saliva in many parts of the vessel
was copious and disgusting. Some of the passengers seemed to spend much
of their time in sensual gratification, there being little reading or
card-playing indulged in. Breakfast was served at eight o’clock,
luncheon at twelve, dinner at four, and tea at eight. The first dinner
course occupied about an hour, the second fifteen minutes, and dessert
about the same length of time. The cabin, in some respects, resembled a
British inn, the passengers dressing as they chose, and at all times
calling for what they wished, champagne, seemingly, being the only wine
restricted, and which was presented at dinner twice a-week. To those not
of fastidious taste, the Napoleon offered a fit opportunity for
indulgence, the table being copiously stored with substantial food and a
variety of liquids. The noise of calling the steward, and drawing of
corks, succeeded each other at short intervals throughout the day, and
generally formed my morning and evening salutations. The quantity of
good things which some individuals stowed under their belts, appeared
excessive. Man is apt to despise what he cannot enjoy, and sensual
indulgence never appeared to me so unworthy of regard. Champagne,
sparkling in the wine-cup, did not afford a thousandth part of the
pleasure I had often derived from the dewdrops glancing in the morning
sunbeam, and when presented to my fevered lips by a most friendly hand,
I envied my pretty Ayrshire cow, Salina, the privilege of quaffing the
cool and limpid fount at Mungoswells.
On 20th May, 40° 30ʹ north latitude, 53° west longitude, and 950 miles
from New York, Mrs ——, a cabin passenger, gave birth to a female child.
In compliment to the ship, this little nymph of the sea was to be
christened Josephine! a name memorable for conjugal affection, and the
poor return such a virtue will sometimes receive.
Our commander, Captain Smith, was an American by birth, and part owner
of the vessel. He was indefatigable as a seaman, spending successive
nights on deck, and seldom concluding a meal without satisfying himself,
by ocular demonstration, that all was right aloft. To the passengers he
was attentive; and, considering the situation in which they occasionally
placed him, also forbearing. Individually, I found him courteous and
gentlemanly in a high degree.
The wind continued adverse for the first twenty-five days; and sometimes
blew tempestuously. The weather moderated for the last eight days of the
voyage, and the bar at New York was made on the morning of the 29th May,
which a dense fog prevented us crossing without a pilot. The vessel
stood off and on during the day, and towards noon, six gentlemen,
accompanied by the letter-bag, set out in a fishing-boat for New York,
where they landed in safety a few hours afterwards. The fog increasing
as the day advanced, deprived the passengers of the hope of reaching
shore until next day, and all their stock of patience was required to
withstand the disappointment.
Next morning I was early on deck. The fog of the preceding day had
disappeared in course of the night, and the sun shone brilliant in a sky
of cloudless blue. A bracing and favourable breeze filled our canvass,
and hastened on their voyage a thousand vessels around us, which had
been detained by the previous unfavourable weather. Land was seen on
both sides of the channel, but too distant to render objects on its
surface distinctly visible. At a quarter before eight, a pilot stept on
board, under whose guidance the Napoleon proceeded merrily on her way.
Under the combination of advantages we now enjoyed, our detention on the
previous day seemed a fortunate occurrence, without which we should have
been landed at New York, insensible of the beauties of its approach.
Having been nurtured in the country, and by profession and taste brought
into fellowship with the vegetable kingdom, I anticipated much pleasure
on my first introduction to America. This feeling led me on deck early
in the morning, and, with telescope in hand, I watched with anxiety our
approach to the shore. My situation was like that of a famishing person
with food in view, intense desire without gratification, and brought to
feel enjoyment by gradual participation. At first the country appeared a
mass of uniform vegetation; by and by, the green broke into different
shades, forest could be distinguished from cultivated field, kinds of
trees and crops became visible, but I strained my eyeballs almost to
blindness without being able to mark the minute characteristics of
individuals. The general effect imparted delight, which was heightened,
perhaps, by my having left home at the termination of a tedious winter,
and crossed a wide waste of waters; the green mantle of nature never
appeared to me so rich and fascinating.
The general aspect of the scenery, on approaching New York, is
beautiful; consisting of hill, wood, water, island, town, villa, and
hamlet, in every combination which can impart pleasure. But blue
mountains, so prominent in the landscapes of Scotland, and so dear to
her children, are altogether wanting, and the eye searches in vain for
an object of sublimity.
An inspecting surgeon came on board at the quarantine station, who
examined the passengers and crew. On coming to anchor in the river, near
the wharf, a customhouse officer sealed up the luggage in the berths,
and the cabin passengers were landed by means of a steam-boat.
On reaching shore, we learned there was a scarcity of lodgings at this
season of the year, when the inhabitants of the Southern States travel
northwards in quest of health. Our charioteer, after two unsuccessful
attempts to find accommodation, landed us at the Washington Hotel, kept
by Mr Ward, who kindly supplied us with every thing we could desire.
CHAPTER III.
_Theatre—Trollopes—Mrs Trollope’s Work—Customhouse
Officer—Race-course— Westhouses Breeding Stud—Thunderstorm—Return to
the Hotel—Excursion to Long Island—New town—Flushing—Agriculture in
the neighbourhood of New York._
Miss Fanny Kemble taking her benefit on the night of our arrival, it was
determined that we should visit the Park theatre. We found the house
well attended, the ladies greatly outnumbering the gentlemen in the
boxes, while the pit contained males only, apparently belonging to what
is known in England by the operative classes, amongst whom people of
colour were seen. Having peeped into Mrs Trollope’s work on the Domestic
Manners of the Americans, and its illustrations of those witnessed at
the Cincinnati theatre recurring to memory, I watched the behaviour of
the audience.
At the end of the second act, I observed a gentleman in the second tier
of boxes in an indelicate posture in front of the box. Three were
similarly situated, at the end of the third act, when several voices in
the pit called out, “A Trollope, a Trollope,” and a general hissing and
hooting from the same quarter had the effect of inducing the offenders
speedily to withdraw.
This incident at the theatre, amusing in itself, afforded me pleasure,
by exhibiting the operatives in the pit enforcing chaste manners on
those considering themselves higher in the scale of humanity; and
proving that Mrs Trollope’s remarks had not been altogether lost on the
Americans.
The clever, and to some people, amusing work of Mrs Trollope, will have
different effects from what its admirers in Britain contemplate. The
many sketches of low and incidental character which the book contains,
and given as belonging to the people generally, wounded the feelings of
the inhabitants of the United States; and by drawing attention to bad
practices, led to the improvement of the people reviled. From much I saw
and heard, the keen satire of this authoress is likely to produce, in a
few years, the usual improvement of a century. On the other hand, her
caricatures of manners and institutions fostered the prejudices of many
of the inhabitants of Britain, and engendered dislike to political
changes taking place in that country, more likely to be accelerated than
retarded by intemperate opposition. When indelicacy flows from the pen
of a female, though veiled by effusions of poetic fancy and garnished by
wit, it is highly dangerous to youthful innocence, and the popularity of
Mrs Trollope’s work may be regarded as evidence of want of discernment,
if not of vitiated religious and moral feeling, in a portion of the
reading population of Britain.
The piece of the evening was “The Wonder,” in which Miss Kemble did not
appear to advantage. Having formerly seen her at Edinburgh in the play
of the “Hunchback,” the contrast on the present occasion was painful.
Whether my disappointment arose from the difference of character she
represented, or a change of feeling on my part, cannot be determined,
but I left the house long before the conclusion of the piece, for want
of interest.
Next morning we applied at the customhouse for our luggage, and, on
paying a trifle, obtained a permit for its inspection. The officer on
board performed his duty in the most gentlemanlike manner; and in less
than five minutes from the time of going on board, our luggage, under
charge of a porter, was on the way to the Washington hotel.
The New York races take place on the Union Course, Long Island, twelve
miles distant from the city, and this being the last day of them, we
were anxious to embrace what we conceived so good an opportunity of
seeing the different ranks of society. Accordingly, we crossed the river
at Brooklyn ferry, and engaged a light four-wheeled waggon drawn by one
horse. The individuals proceeding to the course in vehicles, and none
were observed on foot, seemed under a racing mania, and rattled along
the road expeditiously, many of the horses trotting in admirable style.
On approaching the course, our horse and waggon were put into a court,
and we proceeded on foot.
The Union Course is private property, and completely shut against the
public by a fence of strong upright posts, or stakes, enclosing a
considerable space of more ground than is occupied by the course. For a
considerable distance on each side of the winning post, the exterior
fence consists of strong boards impervious to vision, on the top of
which are stands capable of containing many thousand people. The
interior margin of the raceway is fenced by a low open paling, except
opposite the winning-post, where high upright stakes are substituted. A
portion of ground including part of the raceway is thus enclosed for the
accommodation of the horses, and those more immediately interested in
them, by the stands on one, and close upright stakes on three sides,
with large gates crossing the raceway, which are kept open during the
time of running. A quarter dollar was exacted on passing the outer
barrier of the course, on entering which, we found the first race
concluded. Inheriting a smack of the jockey, my first object was to
obtain a view of the horses; and on applying for admission into the
enclosure where they were walking, I learned a ticket was the only
passport; but preparations for starting commenced, and the first
two-mile heat was run, according to my watch, in three minutes and
fifty-seven seconds. My anxiety for a sight of the horses increasing, I
applied to a gentleman, seemingly of importance in the racing circle, to
be allowed to approach them, and was informed that on paying three
dollars, 12s. 9d. sterling, I would obtain a ticket of admission into
the enclosure. The terms on which I could come near the horses appearing
extravagant, I contented myself with peeping through the stakes at a
distance. It would be unfair to attempt a minute description of the
animals, under the circumstances in which I was placed, but they seemed
not quite so strong as English race-horses, though more sprightly and
graceful in the mode of carrying their heads and tails.
There are few finer sights in England than a well-attended race-course
in good weather. All ranks, from the king to the beggar, male and
female, assemble in their best equipages and gayest attire. Splendour
and beauty seem to regard the occasion granted for display; and the more
immediate actors in the scene harmonize with the general pageant, a
well-trained horse and his rider being a perfect model of chaste
neatness. All is, however, different at New York. In the interior of the
race-course, there were a limited number of people, few equipages, and a
total want of finery or display of any kind. The stands were crowded,
but amongst the assembled multitude I could not have numbered more than
thirty females who, from their appearance, had no pretensions to the
epithet of lady. The jockeys were of all hues, generally coloured boys,
whose black faces appeared very grotesque under their bright-coloured,
ill-fitting dresses. One jockey, of small size and tender years, was
clothed in shabby leather trowsers, which had formed knee-breeches to
their original possessor; and a second had his spindle-shanks in old
boots of the largest dimensions, with strings below his knees to prevent
his trowsers and boots parting company. Bridles and saddles were covered
with mould and rust, and in one instance a pair of stirrup-irons were
warped with rope, to fit them for a little tawny foot. On coming up to
start for the second heat, the horses displayed much impatience, being,
generally, led by one, and sometimes two men on foot, as motley and
grotesque in appearance as the riders. Two false starts were made; and
at the time of finally getting away, one horse had his tail in the
direction of the others’ heads. The jockeys rode all in the same style,
their toes being placed near to the nose of the horse, and their heads
inclining back above the tail. The second heat was run in three minutes
and fifty-five seconds, after which I withdrew, disappointed at what I
had witnessed.
On reaching a foreign land for the first time, a person is apt to judge
every thing he sees by the standard of his own country, until the
home-rust, which more or less accumulates on every one, is rubbed off,
and a consequent expansion of mind takes place. At first it appeared to
me illiberal to exclude the poor from seeing a race, and sordid to exact
money from the rich who witnessed it, particularly in a reputed free
country like the United States of America. On reflection, however, I
could not see any impropriety in making those who enjoy the amusement of
horse racing pay for it, more especially when the government does not
squander public treasure on such an object, and where the course is
private property. I could not ascertain if the course is lucrative, but
the funds arising from the following sources, which are extracted from a
race bill, must be considerable.
Members and their (immediate) families, to pass free.
For every two-horse four-wheel carriage, with not more than four
passengers, $1.00
For every four-horse carriage, 2.00
For every passenger over four, each .25
For every gig or other two-wheeled carriage, with one passenger, .50
For every passenger over one, each .25
For every person on horseback, .50
For every person on foot, .25
Public Stand, .50
☞No person but a Member, or a resident of another State, invited by a
Member to purchase a Ticket, can have access to the Members’ Stand.
Any non-resident of New York, so invited, by paying three dollars, may
procure a Ticket, for the week, of admission to the Members’ Stand.
The Pavilion will be set apart for Ladies, Members of the Club, and
such Gentlemen only as have Tickets to the Members’ Stand.
⁂An efficient Police is provided to preserve order, and see that the
Rules are strictly adhered to and enforced.
The next day we were accidently carried to the farm of Westhouses, where
we saw an extensive breeding stud of thoroughbred horses, amongst which
was a sister to Eclipse, the most celebrated horse in the States, and
Henry, next in fame to Eclipse. The gentlemen of the turf consider their
horses superior to those of England, equal distances being run in less
time; but the style of running is, however, different, the weights of
America being lighter, and the horses pushed from the starting-post.
We experienced a most severe thunderstorm while at tea, but the young
ladies of the party did not seem to concern themselves about the war of
elements, the most vivid lightnings flashing without remark. We
travelled a few miles after the storm abated, and daylight had
disappeared. The calls of toads and catydids were deafening, and
innumerable fire-flies illuminated the face of nature, and lighted our
way. The wetness of the evening induced us to remain for the night at
the house of a friend, instead of returning to New York. Next morning I
was awoke from a sound sleep by a loud knocking at my bedroom window,
and on answering the call, my disturber asked the hour. After looking at
my watch, I answered, twenty minutes past three o’clock, and added, he
had surely made a mistake in coming to me. He sharply answered, in a
disagreeable nasal twang, “I have slept too long, that is all the
mistake, I guess.” In a few minutes afterwards, all hands, including
several of the family, were engaged in milking cows; and the produce of
about twenty was despatched for New York before five o’clock, under
charge of the person who awoke me, and I learned that he had contracted
for the milk during the season. We breakfasted at six o’clock, and were
immediately afterwards drawn to the city by a pair of handsome chestnut
geldings, at the rate of eight miles an hour, and which would have
graced any barouche in Britain. Our vehicle was the common four-wheeled
waggon of the country, with two deals across for temporary seats, and it
was to return loaded with seed-potatoes. We drove smack up to the
Washington Hotel, one of the most fashionable houses in the most
celebrated street in New York; and in course of our progress I was
amused at the uneasiness of my friend, one of the best and plainest of
men, at being carried to our residence in such a mean-looking carriage.
During his short residence in the States, he had not learned to shake
off that aristocratic feeling which so generally pervades human nature,
and has produced much misery in the world.
After changing our linens, we set out in a gig for Long Island,
proceeding by way of Flushing, and returning by the beautiful village of
Jamaica. Long Island has been termed the garden of the States—a name
which it may well merit from its numerous orchards, but certainly not
from the fertility of the soil, or the management which it is under. The
land is generally of light texture, requiring constant supplies of
manure, and a considerable part of it is sand of the poorest quality.
The enclosures were small, the fences bad, and every description of crop
inferior. Parts of the surface were covered with thriftless brushwood,
and there were numerous pools of water which might have been easily
drained. Many of the houses were composed of brick, others of wood,
resembling the country-seats or villas of England. As a protection from
the sun’s rays, windows were generally provided with green Venetian
blinds opening on the outside. Grave-yards, or private burying places,
were innumerable, and like the flower plots and gardens, kept in an
untidy manner.
On passing the village of Newtown, celebrated as the place where the
delicious apple bearing its name was first discovered, we drove into a
shed, a convenience attached to every country place of entertainment in
the eastern United States, and after giving orders for the tending of
our horse, applied at the bar of a respectable-looking hotel, if we
could have dinner. A thin vixen-looking woman peeped from behind a door,
and whispered something to the landlord, who immediately told us, in a
civil tone of voice, he could not comply with the request, as they were
engaged in cleaning the house. There was no alternative but to proceed,
and on reaching a good-looking hotel at Flushing, about one o’clock, we
learned that the dinner hour was at two, but no objection was made to
accommodate us immediately. Table was prepared by a pretty young woman,
called, in this part of the world, a hired girl; and in less than a
quarter of an hour from the time of our arrival, dinner was set before
us. The same person, whom I consider entitled to the name of lady, being
neat in dress, easy and polite in manners, waited during dinner in a
standing position. She conversed freely and sensibly on different
subjects, without forwardness or levity of conduct, and apologized for
part of our fare not being so nice as it would have been, had time been
allowed for preparation. On paying the bill, a gratuity was not
proffered for her services, nor did she seem to expect it. The hostler,
however, made a demand, and told us he did not receive wages from the
master of the house, but depended entirely on travellers for
remuneration.
The nurseries of Messrs Prince, the most extensive in America, are
situated at Flushing, and were visited by us. The grounds, compared with
such places in Britain, and some others which I saw in America, seemed
badly kept, being full of perennial root-weeds of the most troublesome
description, as well as those of annual growth.
Agriculture being little known as a science in any part of America, and
but imperfectly understood as an art, the same diversity of opinion, and
mode of management, prevail as in Britain, with greater difficulty of
becoming acquainted with them. The following particulars relate to the
neighbourhood of New York.
Grass crops are mown for hay five or six years in succession, without
being top-dressed or manured in any way—the aftermath, which is seldom
abundant, being depastured. Five pounds of red clover, and half a peck
of timothy seeds (_Phileum pratense_), are sown on an acre; and also,
occasionally, small quantities of herd-grass and redtop, two kinds of
poea. I believe the red clover lives longer than it commonly does in the
cultivated fields of Britain, having seen many plants after five
successive crops of hay. The grass, on being ploughed, is followed in
the first year by Indian corn without manure, by potatoes with manure in
the second year, and, if early, they are followed with buck-wheat;
barley is taken in the third year, and in the fourth, oats accompanied
with grass-seeds. Potatoes are grown in drills as in Britain, and
sometimes in hills three or four feet distant, formed by the surface
being marked into squares by the plough. A whole potato, or three
cuttings, are placed above the manure, and both covered over with earth
by the spade. Disease in the potato was said to be unknown. The fruit
crop is often injured by spring frosts, and wheat by mildew. Swede
turnip is sown in August, and stored before winter. Geese are plucked
three times a-year—live goose feathers being a general article of
commerce.
Farm labourers, or helps, get from ten to twelve dollars a-month, with
bed and board, including washing, and a deduction is made for sickness
or voluntary absence. A married man is allowed from ninety-five to one
hundred and twenty dollars a-year, instead of board; and pays from
twenty to twenty-five dollars for house and garden rent. The hours of
labour are from sunrise to sundown, without a specified time for meals,
to which they are commonly summoned by sound of horn. Hired men do not
consider themselves bound for any length of time, and occasionally
absent themselves for a day or two without giving notice of their
intention. Hired spade-men get seventy-five cents, or three-quarters of
a dollar per day, without board, all the year round.
CHAPTER IV.
_Journey from New York to Philadelphia—Steam-boat—Railway
Coach—Militia Muster—American and British Soldiers—Characters of
Travellers—Mansion-house Hotel—Funeral—Excursion to
Holmsburg—Hotel-keepers in America and Ireland—Mr W * *—Sir John
Sinclair of America—Fair Mount—Naval Yard—Philadelphia—Return to New
York—Face of the Country—Agricultural Details._
We left New York in a steam-boat, a little after six o’clock in the
morning, and reached South Amboy, on Rariton bay, a distance of
twenty-eight miles, at half-past eight. From Amboy we travelled on a
railway to Bordentown, distant thirty-four miles, in carriages drawn by
two horses, which were changed three times in four hours, and thence
down the Delaware river, by steam, to Philadelphia, where we arrived at
three o’clock.
The passengers breakfasted and dined on board the steam-boat, paying
half a dollar (2s. 1½ d.) for each meal; no difference in charge or
accommodation being made, and smoking in the cabin or after-part of the
vessel was prohibited. There is a bar on board, at which liquors,
segars, maps, &c. &c., may be obtained. American steam-boats have been
compared to flourishing hotels, a term not sufficiently comprehensive,
as they contain barbers, commodities of different kinds for sale, and
often horses and carriages. They are floating cities.
Soon after leaving New York, the passengers were warned by bell to
purchase breakfast tickets, and some time afterwards to identify their
luggage, when all belonging to those proceeding to Philadelphia was
placed in a large crate, which was lifted from the steamer to a
carriage, and again to a steamer, by means of cranes, without its
contents being moved. The railway carriages rest on four wheels—are
divided into three compartments, each containing six persons, many of
whom are provided with tickets for their respective places before
leaving the vessel. The horses were placed in sheds, ready harnessed, at
the different changing places, for greater expedition in attaching them
to the carriages. Every arrangement in this line of travelling is
excellent.
In passing along the railway, the train of carriages stopped for a few
minutes, which afforded us an opportunity of seeing a militia muster,
which some writers have humorously described. The dresses of the men
consisted of all hues and shapes, there were hats with and without
feathers, and some garnished with roses. The guns consisted of single
and double barrels, with not a few rifles amongst them. Many of the
corps were seen approaching the muster ground on horseback, and others
in light waggons drawn by beautiful horses. The soldiers were,
generally, small, thin, miserable-looking creatures, and such as would
not often have been enlisted in the British army. A young gentleman,
lately arrived from England, and a fellow-passenger in the Napoleon and
railway coach, was quizzing the mean appearance of the militiamen, when
a blithe, jolly-looking fellow from Baltimore good-humouredly remarked,
that such men as these beat off the English at New Orleans; and some
conversation on the relative merits of American and British soldiers
took place; the citizen of Baltimore was drawn into the question.
Whether American or British soldiers are the best, will, I trust, long
remain undecided by actual trial. There is, however, no doubt, that the
British are apparently more muscular than the Americans, and I imagine
also more capable of enduring fatigue and privations. But large men do
not load muskets faster than those of smaller dimensions, while they are
more easily hit by a bullet. My ingenious friend W——, residing in the
neighbourhood of Philadelphia, is of opinion, that the best fed army
will always prove conquerors, and attributes the success of the American
army and navy, last war, to the circumstance of the Americans having
been better fed than the British. The influence of food in imparting
strength and courage to animals is well known, and, under a parity of
circumstances, the best fed army will prove victorious. But my friend’s
argument, to be of weight, requires the British to have been under-fed,
a circumstance not likely to have occurred; but in American warfare,
when men are often armed with rifles and masked by trees, strength and
courage are not brought into play. While the Americans fight in their
own country, in defence of wives, families, and property,
notwithstanding their liberty and equality notions, and want of
discipline, they will always prove an overmatch for hireling soldiers of
any nation. But place them in a foreign land, amidst pestilence and
privation, with no incentives to exertion but a miserable pittance
called pay and frivolous glory, I doubt if they would display deeds of
greatness and valour as Britons have often done.
We had not been long seated in the railway coach, when the Englishman
became the butt of some Americans, who crammed him with such
absurdities, that he must have returned home, which he shortly intended
doing, with very erroneous ideas of the States; and the quickness with
which his character was discovered by the Americans did credit to their
discrimination. The tenor of a foreigner’s conversation with the natives
on his first arrival is an index to his understanding, and the
information he receives is often made to accord with his capacity and
feelings instead of truth. Without sound judgment to discriminate and
appreciate information, the gleanings and impressions of a traveller
must be as apt to mislead as instruct others, and his lucubrations will
often be found more illustrative of his own character than of the people
and country he visits. We took up our residence at the Mansion-house
hotel, Philadelphia, kept by Mr Head; but it did not seem to warrant the
praises bestowed on it by some travellers, meal hours not being
regularly kept; and the bed of my friend was preoccupied by a set of
mischievous natives, which fortunately in no instance paid their
respects to me.
While walking after tea, a funeral passed by, which was the first I had
seen on American soil. A hearse moved slowly along the side of the
street, accompanied by about thirty men walking two and two on the
pavement, dressed in coloured clothes, without crape on hat or arm; then
followed six or seven females, each supported by a gentleman, and both
sexes were dressed in black garments, and seemed to be near relations of
the deceased; then came forty or fifty men and women in pairs, partly in
black and partly in coloured clothes, which closed the procession. I
afterwards observed a funeral train at New York, composed entirely of
men, chiefly in coloured clothes, arranged in pairs. The custom of
attending funerals in coloured clothes is said to be of recent
introduction; and as grief springs from the heart, and cannot be
expressed by hue of garment, this innovation on old custom is creditable
as well as advantageous to the people.
Wishing to visit a gentleman residing fourteen miles from Philadelphia,
to whom I had letters of introduction, the proprietor of the hotel
demanded five dollars, 21s. 3d., sterling, for a carriage to convey us
to the place and back again by midday. The charge appearing
unreasonable, I made application at several quarters, and at last
engaged an Irishman on the street, who undertook the journey for three
dollars, and he fulfilled his engagement to our perfect satisfaction.
Next morning, we left Philadelphia at an early hour, and on reaching
Holmsburg, were refused breakfast at an unpretending hotel, without a
reason being assigned. On applying, however, at another hotel on the
opposite side of the street, we were more fortunate, and had every thing
set before us which could appease hunger or gratify the palate. The
refusal of breakfast reminded me of being in Ireland in 1830; on which
occasion I was accompanied by a friend. We travelled from Drogheda to
Kells, in the county of Meath, in a common car of the country, exposed
to a burning sun, and choking dust. On reaching that lovely village, and
alighting at an inn, we were told the Marquis of —— was momently
expected, on which account we could not be accommodated, and at a second
inn experienced the same disagreeable reception. I exerted the little
eloquence with which Nature has endowed me to obtain a single room, and
after despairing of success, I petitioned for a stall in the stable. The
heart of mine hostess was so far overcome as to provide tea, and allow
us to wash in a dirty miserable-looking room. I here despatched a card
to a landed proprietor in the neighbourhood by an errand-boy of the
house. This circumstance changed the state of affairs all of a sudden;
but I withdrew to the house of my friend in the country. The great man
did not make his appearance that evening; yet the mere expectation of
his arrival deprived us of food and shelter. What a miserable state of
society!
The tavern-keepers of Ireland, and those of Newton and Holmsburg, seem
to have been actuated by very different motives. Both were culpably
unaccommodating; but those of America, probably, acted from saucy
independence—those of Ireland, from greedy and needy dependence. Paddy
wished to fawn on the rich man, and enjoy the crumbs which fell from his
establishment; while Jonathan indulged his own humour, and disregarded
crumbs of every kind.
Just as we approached Mr W——’s, rain began to fall, and prevented our
examination of his farm, which I much regretted. Our stay, however, was
prolonged till after dinner, having been fascinated by the sentiments of
his powerful and original mind. Besides acquiring much useful
information regarding the United States generally, I learned the
advantages of introductory letters, which I too lightly esteemed, from
the circumstance of having, when a young man, travelled over a
considerable portion of England without such credentials, and obtained
access to whatever interested me, by stating, either verbally or in
writing, the object of my visit. Mrs W—— asked me if I had a friend
named Flanagan, and on being answered in the negative, added, that a
person, passing by that name, introduced himself to her husband as my
bosom friend, and in consequence received considerable attention for
seven or eight months, at the end of which he decamped, without paying
his debts. On reflection, I recollected having received and answered two
letters from a person of that name in the north of Ireland, which formed
the extent of our intercourse. Introductory letters have become so
common of late years, that in many quarters they are treated with
neglect. They ate perhaps unnecessary to liberal-minded men, and only
useful to guard against imposition.
Returning to Philadelphia in the afternoon, I delivered an introductory
letter to an eminent individual, who had been described to me as the Sir
John Sinclair of America, which appellation I found he well merited. A
dirty-looking girl opened the door of a house in one of the principal
streets, and desired me to occupy a seat in the passage until —— came
down stairs. The passage was about five feet wide by forty in length,
and so dark that objects were not distinctly visible in the lightest
part of it; and in this hole, on a plain wooden chair, I sat for upwards
of a quarter of an hour before the gentleman made his appearance. During
this interval of suspense, I debated with myself the indignity offered
me according to British notions, and whether I ought to leave my dungeon
in disgust; but on reflection I resolved to submit to any thing, short
of insult and imposition, that might come in the way, whilst amongst the
Americans, for the double purpose of seeing character and ensuring
personal comfort—knowing how disagreeable it would be to act at variance
with the manners and customs of a nation, and vain to expect to bring
the population to my way of thinking on such matters. The gentleman at
last made his appearance, and conducted me to a room, without saying a
single word about the delay he had occasioned, or the situation in which
I had been placed; and from his manners being easy and polite, I was led
to conjecture that sitting in the dark lobby was a common occurrence
with his visitors. My reception was flattering, his offers of service
extensive, and conversation, which was chiefly agricultural, more fluent
than profound.
Rain continued to fall in torrents during the night and next day, which
prevented us visiting the celebrated botanic gardens belonging to
Colonel Ker, to whom we had letters. With the aid of a street coach, we,
however, reached Fair Mount, where public works which supply the city
with water are situated. The machinery is propelled by water from the
river, part of which is raised to an elevated reservoir, from which the
city receives a copious supply for every purpose. The reservoir is
surrounded by a pale fence, enclosing well-kept walks, accessible by
flights of steps. The beauty of the spot and surrounding scenery deserve
a visit from every person of taste, even although they disregard the
machinery of the works.
From Fair Mount we drove to the Naval Yard, which we reached just as the
workmen were leaving it to dine, during which time visitors are
excluded. The sentinel on duty enquired if we were foreigners, and on
learning that we were, conveyed information to his superior in command,
but on his return informed us we could not be admitted. While we
lamented being too late to see the Naval Yard, the justness of our
exclusion was fully admitted.
Philadelphia contains about 170,000 inhabitants, is the second place in
population and the fourth in shipping within the United States, and
forms the _depôt_ to a county yearly increasing in population, wealth,
and extent. It is situated on the west bank of the Delaware river, which
is navigated by vessels of the largest size. Many of the streets are
shaded with trees, and all of them remarkably clean and well paved,
running parallel and at right angles to each other. The houses are
generally built of red brick, those of some of the principal streets
having the basement, steps, door, and window sides of white marble. The
doors are in general painted white, and have silver handles and
knockers. Houses of this description have a chaste and pleasing
appearance. Many of the public buildings are elegant, and composed of
white marble. The city is generally considered regular, to a fault—the
inhabitants the most wealthy, fashionable, and polished in America.
The weather continuing wet, we left Philadelphia for New York at three
o’clock in the afternoon, passing the night at Perth Amboy, where we
paid a charge of threepence sterling for cleaning boots, and reached New
York next morning. The railway from Amboy to Bordentown passes chiefly
through Middlesex county, state of New Jersey. The soil is absolutely
drift sand, and, according to my present notions of farming, unworthy of
cultivation. The crops consisted chiefly of rye and Indian corn, and
were uniformly bad. Clovers and timothy grass are seldom sown. In
several instances lime and gypsum had been applied where Indian corn was
growing, having been carried to the field in waggons, and spread thinly
over the surface. In one instance farmyard manure was being applied in
imperfectly formed drills, which I supposed were destined to receive
potatoes. Women were seen hoeing Indian corn in the fields, but I could
not discover whether they were white or coloured. The cattle grazing on
the scanty herbage appeared mere starvelings, and smaller than some of
the Highland cattle of Scotland. The sheep were even more
miserable-looking than the cattle, and many of them retained their
winter fleece. Pigs corresponded with the sheep and cattle; the horse
alone forming an exception to the general wretchedness, some noble
animals of this species being met with. Many orchards, consisting
chiefly of peach-trees, the fruit of which is distilled into brandy, had
been lately formed, and seemed the only thriving thing on the surface of
the earth. The men seen at the militia muster, already noticed, are
inhabitants of this district, and appeared to partake of its character.
When passing along the railway, I was much struck with the beauty of a
plant, bearing a profusion of pink-coloured flowers, which the rapidity
of motion prevented me seeing distinctly; and on asking its name, one
passenger guessed it to be lauristinus and another hawthorn, but which I
soon discovered to be rhododendron. This plant grows in great profusion
along the road, and more especially around the seat of Joseph Bonaparte,
near Bordentown.
The country around Philadelphia through which we passed, forms a
striking contrast to that of New Jersey; its general aspect resembling,
in all respects, the finest parts of the south of England. Many of the
fences consist of well-kept thorn-hedges, studded with wide spreading
trees; and many of the crops were excellent, although the soil is not
generally in a high state of cultivation. The trees were covered with
massy rich foliage, superior to any thing I had ever witnessed
before—the effects of which were heightened by the season of the year
and prevailing weather, which was warm and moist. Here and there a few
pollard trees were seen raising their thin tops and branchless trunks
amidst the glorious exuberance of nature; and when viewed in the
landscape with the weeping willow, queen of American vegetation, the
tendrils of which, clothed with shining leaves, hang in graceful
festoons thirty feet in length, show how destitute of beauty are the
works of man when compared with those of nature.
Men assisting at farm-work, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, get
from ten to twelve dollars, with maintenance, per month, and they are
not easily obtained to attend regularly at work. Young men and women of
the industrious classes in the country dress in fashionable clothes of
the finest fabrics before marriage, after which, the wife becomes a
lady, and generally engages a hired girl or help. Thrashing machines are
common, but not good; and when the flail is used, barley and oats cost
three cents, rye seven cents, and wheat twelve and a half cents per
bushel, when found,—that is, food provided for the workmen. From the
high price of human labour, compared with the price of food, Indian corn
is often trod out by oxen. Craddlers generally mow round the field when
the crop admits of doing so; and stop only when the scythe requires to
be sharped. Hay costs in cutting from one to one and a half dollar per
acre. Mr W—— pointed out a field of rye which was a good crop, and which
he had a few days before let to be craddled at seventy-five cents per
acre, without board or any other etcetera. The craddler not being
permitted to sit at table with the family, and disliking to eat in the
kitchen, had agreed to board with one of Mr W——’s labourers for
forty-five cents per day, and would be thus fed, viz. breakfast at seven
o’clock, on wheat-bread, rye-bread, fish, cheese, butter, and coffee;
luncheon at ten o’clock, on cold meat, pickled pork, cheese, butter,
pickles, bread, and coffee; dine at twelve, on every thing that is good
and substantial; at five is served coffee, with bread, butter, fruit,
and fruit-pie. Occasionally supper is taken at seven, but this meal is
considered superfluous. Mr W—— thinks Americans perform a great deal
more work than Englishmen, which he attributes to their being better
fed. At the conclusion of my transatlantic tour, my opinion is, the
inhabitants of America do not work near so much as those of Britain
throughout the week or year, although they may, perhaps, do more in a
day. The strength and expertness of workmen seems a favourite idea—those
of every district which I have visited being accounted by the
inhabitants the best in the world. But the climate of England being
better fitted for exertion than that of America, and the apparent health
and strength of Englishmen superior, I can discover no reason why they
should do less work than the Americans. Men and animals may be
considered machines capable of manufacturing or yielding labour
according as they are fed, provided their powers be not weakened by
excess, or other circumstances affecting health. The half-starved,
potato-fed Irishman could no more keep pace during a day’s work with the
meat-eating American, than the grass-fed steed with one trained on corn
and hay. It is shortsighted policy in a master to pinch his labourer of
food, when he reaps the fruits of his exertions.
In the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, land of fine quality and in high
condition, may be had from 100 to 120 dollars per acre. Produce of all
descriptions is high, and the straw of a wheat crop has been sold at
thirty dollars per acre. Wheat is often mildewed. I saw several fields
of a newly introduced grass, called Andes grass, said to have been
lately brought from the range of hills in South America bearing that
name. On examining the plant in the fields, and the seed in the shops, I
think it is identical with the small-bulbed oat-like grass (_Holcus
avenceus_ of Sinclair) indigenous to Britain, and which I afterwards
observed growing in a state of nature in different parts of New York
State. Much has been said and written in exaggeration of Mr W——’s system
of farming; and he seemed highly amused when told of their nature. He
grows excellent Swede turnip after his wheat crop, and this is the only
succession of crops he gets in one year. His system is to plough in
green vegetable matter, such as clover aftermath, French beans, and
Indian corn, for manure to other crops. Horses and cattle are soiled
with green food in summer, farming operations appeared to be well
executed, and every thing connected with the establishment was in good
order. Mr W. takes charge of agricultural pupils for 300 dollars a-year;
and, from my visit to this gentleman, I think him eminently qualified
for imparting knowledge to them. Young boys are often apprenticed to
farmers for four years, with a stipulation of getting a quarter’s
schooling each year of their apprenticeship.
CHAPTER V.
_New York—Damask hair-cloth manufactory—Dr H——, President Jackson, and
Black Hawk—Hyde Park—Residences in America and Britain—Taste for
Flowers—Cattle and Sheep—Scenery of the Hudson and Clyde—Fast
Eating—Albany—Coach Passengers—Women working in Fields._
Several days were spent in viewing the beauties of New York and its
neighbourhood, which the works of recent travellers render unnecessary
for me to describe at length. This city is the first city in the Union,
both as to shipping and population, which does not perhaps fall much
short of two hundred and forty thousand. It is situated on an island
separated from the mainland by a small creek passing betwixt the north
and east rivers, which some individuals failed in converting into a
canal. From the site of New York as an emporium of trade, there seem to
be no limits to the extension of the city and its suburbs. It is already
the chief outlet of much of the produce of the eastern parts of the New
England states, part of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and almost the whole of
New York State. When the canals and railways now in progress are
completed, it will also become the depôt for part of the produce of the
states of Indiana, Illinois, and the unsurveyed country to the west of
Lake Michigan, traversed by the rivers Mississippi and Missouri; and, in
the course of events, Upper Canada may be added to the list. The mouth
of the Mississippi seems the only outlet, calculated by the extent of
inland navigation, to vie with New York; but the warm and pestilential
nature of the climate unfits it for the reception of produce, and the
residence of man. The public and private buildings vary in size and
elegance; and the inhabitants are justly proud of Waverley and Lafayette
Places, the houses of the latter being decorated with immense Corinthian
pillars, and the whole fronts and steps consist of marble. The streets
are not so clean as the inhabitants wish strangers to believe; but as
swine seem, in part, intrusted with the charge of removing the filth,
they are in as good order as might be expected. The streets appear to be
thronged at all hours, noise and uproar prevailing when I retired for
the night; ladies and gentlemen on horseback, and the industrious on
foot, were bustling forth at five in the morning when I arose. Emblems
of aristocratic pride and shameless mendicity occasionally met the eye,
in the red vests and peculiar cut coats of serving men standing at the
back of luxurious carriages, and in the extended hat supplicating
charity. Like other large commercial and manufacturing towns, activity
characterises the inhabitants by day, dissipation by night.
At Johnston and Green’s manufactory I saw a newly invented fabric of
great beauty—damask hair-cloth, consisting of different patterns, the
raised figures being sometimes of silk and sometimes of linen. A patent
has been obtained for making this stuff, both in the States and in
England. It forms a beautiful covering for sofas and chairs, and is said
to be durable. I paid one dollar for the linen, and two for the silk
damask, per yard, in small quantities. About two hundred people are
employed at the manufactory, and, at the time I saw them, they all
appeared happy, healthy, and clean. Young women, when weaving by the
piece, earned three dollars (13s. 8d.) per week; small boys, six and
seven years of age, one dollar; the hours of labour being from six in
the morning to seven at night, with intervals of half an hour for
breakfast, and an hour for dinner.
Having forwarded an introductory letter to Dr H——, who, on my arrival at
New York, was at his country-seat, I had intimation of his return to
town a week afterwards. On calling upon the Doctor at his friend’s house
in —— Street, I was ushered into the drawingroom by a tawdry-looking
girl, without announcing my name. My reception was all I could have
wished; and on learning my intended movements, he expressed regret at
not being able to be at —— by the day mentioned, and expecting General
Jackson, the President, to visit —— in course of his tour, already
commenced, proposed that I should wait and form one of the party. There
is no ruler of any portion of the earth I would so soon associate with
as a President of the United States of America, chosen by a free and
enlightened people, to administer their laws; but the task which I had
imposed upon myself did not warrant delay in an indulgence of
feeling,—forming part of the President’s tail, being unconnected with
the objects of my excursion. I had no reason to regret this act of
self-denial, the conduct of the people and President during the tour
being such as I could not admire.
General Jackson having resolved to visit the chief towns in the northern
parts of the Union, he got as far as Boston, when he was compelled by
fatigue to return to Washington. In every town his deportment and
reception seemed an imitation of the rules of despotic countries—a
spectacle to the crowd, and an object of extravagant devotion. An Indian
chief, named Black Hawk, who had been taken prisoner the preceding year,
in a war to the west of Lake Michigan, and who was carried through some
of the great towns, with a view of impressing him with the power of the
States, preparatory to his liberation, arrived at New York the day after
the President, and divided public attention. The ladies declared in
favour of Black Hawk, some of them actually kissing him, which, it is
said, affected the old President’s health. The chief of the white men,
and the chief of the red, were alike objects of curiosity; the President
holding a levee by day, the Hawk by night, in Niblo’s gardens. Had a
mammoth or elephant appeared, the mighty ones of the earth would have
been eclipsed in public favour.
We left New York early in the morning, by the Albany steam-boat, for
Hyde Park, after viewing which we returned to the landing-place on the
river Hudson, and, at half-past twelve at night, stept on board of a
steam-boat which landed us at Albany a little after seven next morning.
I got on deck at four, when passing the town of Hudson; the wind was
blowing high from the north, and piercingly cold.
Hyde Park, the seat of Doctor Hosack, is the most celebrated in America,
and which Mr Stuart describes as being “embellished as a fine residence
and fine grounds in England.” The house is situated some hundreds of
feet above the level of, and at a considerable distance from the Hudson,
the intervening grounds being finely undulating. In front of the house
there is a road, leading from the landing-place on the river, along a
small stream, over which there is an elegant wooden bridge, and several
artificial cascades have been formed in its channel. The house is
composed of wood, as well as the offices and lodges, painted white, and
are very neat of their kind. The conservatory had been dismantled a few
days before our arrival, by placing the plants in the open air; the
collection seemed extensive and well kept. The flower garden is small,
the walks limited, and both destitute of beauty. I am aware that most of
the evergreens which impart loveliness to the residences in Britain
cannot withstand the rigours of an American winter, but this
circumstance is no excuse for the nakedness of Hyde Park walks, the aid
of many native plants having been disregarded. The matchless beauties of
the situation have not only been frequently neglected, but destroyed by
stiff, formal, naked walks, and the erection of temples resembling
meat-safes, without a climbing plant, which the country produces in
endless variety, to hide their deformity, and harmonize them with the
surrounding scene. In short, while I greatly admired the situation of
Hyde Park, I do not recollect having seen a celebrated place where
nature had done so much, and man so little, to render beautiful. The
embellishments at Hyde Park, contrasted with those met with every day in
Britain, place American landscape-gardening immeasurably behind, if it
can be said to exist.
The progress of a people in refinement and taste, manifested in a
combination of nature and art, is commonly the work of time, and the
decoration of grounds an unproductive investment of capital. Thus the
residences of England having descended for ages in the same line,
without the power of possessors changing their destination, may be said
to represent the accumulated savings, labours, and tastes of many
generations. In America the country has not been long possessed by the
present owners, and property does not necessarily descend in the same
line; and if to these causes be added the high price of labour, and the
scarcity of capital, the state of the residences will be sufficiently
accounted for. Dr Hosack has great merit in what he has accomplished,
but it is mockery to compare his grounds, in point of embellishments,
with the fine places in Britain, which have originated from
circumstances which America is not likely soon to experience.
Throughout the whole of my transatlantic tour, the inhabitants of the
country manifested perfect indifference to the beauties of nature. It
was rarely I could learn the name of a plant, with the exception of
trees. Nurserymen, seedsmen, and farmers were, generally, unacquainted
with varieties, and, with exception of two or three individuals, no one
seemed interested in the matter. Rhododendrons grow as plentifully in
many parts of the Eastern States as furze in Britain, yet I saw vast
numbers of this plant shipping at Liverpool for Philadelphia, although
millions of the same variety could have been obtained for the trouble of
lifting, at no great distance from the city. Gardens and nurseries were
overrun with weeds, and did not display beauty either in decoration or
arrangement.
Hyde Park is also celebrated for its agriculture, which I found under
the charge of a gentleman from Fifeshire, Scotland, a person on
excellent terms with himself. The farm offices, which are extensive,
would be considered good in most situations, and were the best I saw in
America. There was a young hawthorn hedge, well kept, and in a thriving
state. The cattle consist of imported short-horns, or their descendants,
and one or two of the best cows were tolerable specimens of that breed.
The sheep were said to be a mixture of the Leicester and Cotswold
breeds; the pure blood of the former not having been found to answer.
The flock was miserably low in condition, and the ewes were followed by
large, though not fat-looking, lambs.
However well the short-horned breed of cattle, and improved Leicester
sheep, may have been found to answer in some parts of Britain, it is
doubtful if the farmers of the State of New York will benefit themselves
by introducing them. The one is remarkable for lack of dairy produce,
and the other for inferior quality of mutton; and both for being
unprofitable, unless liberally supplied at all seasons with nutritious
food. The population of the country cannot well dispense with any part
of their present dairy produce, and do not require an increase of
quantity at a sacrifice of quality of mutton, while the present state of
agriculture does not furnish a sufficiency of food for the health and
growth of short-horns and Leicesters during winter. I imagine smaller
and more hardy breeds, of both kinds of stock, will be found more
profitable for general purposes.
During my residence at New York, I attended the cattle market, which was
stored with moderately fatted cattle, many of which had been worked. I
also witnessed a herd of two hundred passing along the streets, said to
have come from the state of Kentucky, forming part of four thousand
which had been bought by one company, and brought forward in weekly
supplies. They bore some resemblance to the Hereford cattle of
England—were four and five years old, of excellent quality, and were
estimated to average eighty stones dead weight, of 14 lbs. to the stone.
The scenery of the Hudson did not realize my expectations on first view,
an occurrence which frequently takes place when much has previously been
heard in praise of objects. Every person of observation must have
remarked how different scenery appears under a change of circumstances.
The weather being cold and raw during the passage, affected, perhaps, my
feelings; and it was not until the objects had been seen a second time
in the beginning of November, that I became sensible of their beauties.
The Palisadoes, a line of rocks extending for twenty miles on the west
side of the river on leaving New York, are of moderate height, with
their base covered with stunted trees, and convey nothing of the sublime
to the beholder. The objects became more interesting on approaching the
high lands where Anthony’s nose is situated, and forms the most
prominent and beautiful feature. The channel of the river seems to have
been produced by a mighty convulsion; the banks being destitute of soil,
and the islands masses of pure rock, which strikingly display the
economy and beauty of nature—the islands, without a particle of soil or
blade of grass, being thickly studded with healthy, though small trees,
while the perpendicular rocks on the banks, from the water’s edge to
many hundred feet in height, were adorned with blossomed kalmias.
The margins of the river Hudson, and islands in its course, assume a
different character on approaching Albany; the islands being depositions
of mud, susceptible of cultivation, and the banks rich soil, bearing
good crops, and adorned with pretty houses.
The tide flows up the Hudson to Albany, distant from New York 144 miles,
admitting vessels of considerable burden, and sloops of small size
penetrate much farther up the river. The waters of the Hudson, passing
through a rich and populous country, forming the outlet of the Erie
Canal, present a never-ending scene of pleasing industry. At all times
innumerable sailing vessels, with extended cotton canvass, whitened by a
bright sun, and pure air, float gracefully to and fro. Steam-boats,
crowded with passengers, pass with rapidity, while cock-boats, loaded
with fish, poultry, and fruit, rest in quietness. Sloops carrying
well-formed hay and straw stacks, glide towards New York, while
steam-boats tow canal barges and vessels of every description, up and
down the river. The surrounding country is also full of interest,
abounding in thriving villages and towns, each forming a depôt to the
country in their rear; besides villas, academies, hotels, prisons, and
forts without number, associated with the history, literature, and
improvement of the country. To a citizen of the States, the Hudson is
the most interesting, beautiful, and important river in America, and no
foreigner of taste can be insensible to its charms.
The scenery of the river Clyde, in my native country, is of a different
character. In vegetable decoration, the banks of the Clyde are greatly
inferior to those of the Hudson, as well as in soft and picturesque
beauty, although some sweet landscapes, such as the bay of Rothesay, are
found on the former. But the Hudson is altogether wanting in the rugged
blue mountains, so conspicuous from the Clyde, which are the most noble
and awe-inspiring objects of nature. I know not whether it is taste or
prejudice which makes me prefer the scenery of the Clyde to the Hudson.
On reaching Albany, the bustle and confusion on board the steam-boat,
with passengers landing, and porters scrambling for the luggage, was
excessive; and there was some difficulty in preserving unauthorized
hands from carrying away our effects. We reached the Columbian hotel
rather late for breakfast; after which we walked about the town. Things
appeared very different from what New York presented: carts, waggons,
and carriages, as well as the animals harnessed to them, were greatly
inferior. The population did not appear so active, and the eye looked in
vain for those ladies whose fashionable attire, interesting
countenances, and elegance of feet and ankles, delight the beholder. Our
dinner party consisted of upwards of sixty. One gentleman dined in five
minutes, reckoned by my stop-watch; the ladies rose from the table at
the end of twelve; dinner and dessert occupied about fifteen minutes.
The affair seemed an eating race, and my companions not being aware of
the rapidity of the pace, were sadly behind. I was amused at a little
jockeyship displayed in the contest. An individual, as soon as he seated
himself at table, emptied a dish of green pease on his plate, to the
evident disappointment of a gentleman on his right hand, and when a
fresh supply appeared, he performed the like feat a second time,
although part of the first seizure was unconsumed. Few of the party
drank wine during dinner, and very little of the brandy which stood on
the table, for the use of the company, was used. At tea, a gentleman
removed from table in four minutes, but the party generally sat as long
as at dinner.
Albany is the capital of the state of New York, containing about twenty
thousand inhabitants, and has lately been made a port of entry. From
being situated near the outlet of the Erie Canal, which is the channel
of commerce with the country to the west and north, and on the line of
railway now in progress, which will soon connect Boston with Lake Erie,
it is almost certain to rise into importance. It is at present a place
of considerable trade, being the seventh or eighth in the union.
Betwixt dinner and tea I took an opportunity of delivering a letter of
introduction to a gentleman residing a little to the north of Albany,
availing myself of a railway coach proceeding to Schenectady. I chose
part of an outside place behind, sufficient to accommodate five
individuals of ordinary size, and which was occupied by two beings,
half-men, half-boys, sitting cross-legged, and who, by their position
and expression of countenance, seemed resolved not to admit a third
person. After waiting for some time without speaking a word, I made
preparations for taking a place between them; and at last their legs
were only withdrawn to escape the weight of my body. I notice this
circumstance, trivial in itself, as being the only instance where
rudeness, or want of an accommodating spirit was manifested by
travellers in the course of my American tour. The gentleman I called on
being from home, I returned by the fields to Albany. On my way I saw a
grey coloured fox, which appeared larger, and not so active as the red
fox of Britain. I observed several women engaged in the fields in
weeding, cutting, and planting potatoes, and none of them seemed in
poverty, or tinged with black blood. Mr Stuart, in his “Three Years’
Residence in America,” says, women are not allowed to work in the
fields, without saying whether the prohibition arises from custom or by
law. Women are actively employed in different occupations when their
services are wanted, which does not, however, often occur.
CHAPTER VI.
_Journey from Albany to Boston—New Lebanon—Pittsfield—Road
Repairing—The Features of the Country—Rhododendrons—Northampton—Mr
Stuart’s Description of Northampton—Stage Passengers—Mode of
Courtship—Villages—Agricultural Notices._
My companions and I having left Scotland without fixing on a route by
which we were to proceed, I consented to visit the New England States,
in order that I might claim their company through the Western States, to
which they expressed an aversion. Accordingly we left Albany at two
o’clock in the morning, by a stage which carried the mail-bag, crossing
the Hudson in a horse ferry-boat, and reaching Nassau, by five, where we
breakfasted on indifferent fare. Shortly afterwards we passed New
Lebanon, finely situated in a lovely valley, surrounded by picturesque
hills, a great part of which belongs to the religious sect denominated
Shakers, whose principal establishment is here, and whose garden seeds
are justly esteemed throughout North America. New Lebanon is celebrated
for mineral waters, chiefly used for bathing; and the hotels afford
ample accommodation for visitors. Nine miles beyond New Lebanon is the
village of Pittsfield, a clean and beautiful village, reposing in a
charming valley. The houses form a spacious square, in the centre of
which is a tall aged elm, seemingly a remnant of unsubdued nature. There
are several churches and hotels. Here the members of the Berkshire
Agricultural Society, the oldest in America, hold their meetings, the
first show of which took place in 1807, and consisted of two Merino
sheep. We dined at Peru, a miserable country hotel, where bad fare was
washed down by worse tea, the first time such a beverage had been
presented to us during dinner, and is presented only in inferior hotels.
We reached Northampton about six in the evening, having travelled
seventy-seven miles in sixteen hours.
This day’s travelling afforded opportunities of seeing the American
system of road-mending, or more correctly speaking, road-destroying. A
plough, drawn by four, and occasionally six oxen, with two drivers, one
man holding by the stilts, and another standing on the beam, is passed
along the margins of the road, turning every fifty yards. The loosened
earth is then moved to the centre of the road, by men with shovels, or
by a levelling-box drawn by oxen, the stones, great and small, being
first carefully removed from amongst the earth, and in many instances
more were thrown aside than sufficient to Macadamize the road.
The country from Albany, has not an agricultural feature worthy of
notice, the soil being chiefly poor sand, interspersed with rocks and
innumerable stones. The crops were truly miserable, and the pastures
thinly clothed with sheep and cattle, which were invariably lean. Some
beautiful cows were seen at Northampton, apparently descended from the
North Devon breed of England.
The road in several places was so hilly that the stage passengers walked
on foot, which afforded an opportunity of examining much that was
interesting. This was one of the happiest days of my life, almost every
moving and stationary thing on the earth’s surface being new to me, and
the weather fitted for displaying them to the best advantage.
Strawberries of different kinds were gathered, tasted, and their seeds
preserved. Shrubs and flowers were culled and compared. Insects and
birds seemed to vie with each other in displaying brilliant colours;
squirrels and woodpeckers of every hue were sporting around the trunks
of aged trees, and the snakes were basking in the glorious sunbeams.
Nature seemed in jubilee.
The forests through which the road led were strewed with decayed and
decaying trees of former ages, and at the same time exhibited living
specimens of each variety in every stage of growth, from the seedling
budding into existence, to the aged pine, bearing the white and flowing
tresses of Spanish moss, so emblematical of hoary and declining man. The
flowers of rhododendrons and kalmias were unexpanded on the highest
ridges, and opening into beauty in the valleys below, illustrative of
the effect of elevation on climate. These plants were growing in all
situations, on rocks, deep rich soil, beneath trees, and on exposed
banks of rivers. The kalmias with bright red flowers, and white and pink
blossomed varieties of rhododendron, were mingled in pleasing groups.
Near Northampton some snow-white rhododendrons, twelve feet in height,
rich in blossoms and foliage, were shading cows browsing on the banks of
the river, where decaying trunks of pine-trees stood in picturesque
combination, like ruins of an ancient castle. After partaking of tea at
an excellent hotel, we walked forth to survey the village, which is
reckoned the most beautiful in New England. Northampton is extremely
irregular, branching into roads leading in all directions. The houses
are composed of wood painted white, with green Venetian blinds. The
congregational church is a handsome structure, of the same hue and
materials as the houses, and cannot fail to attract the notice of
strangers, being one of the best specimens of wood and paint that the
United States afford. The ranges of houses are enveloped in trees,
amongst which are many magnificent elms, members perhaps of the original
forest, reducing modern vegetation to insignificance, and affording
umbrageous shelter to the inhabitants. The village stands in the rich
valley of the Connecticut, and is surrounded by hills rising nearly 1000
feet in height, wooded to the summit, the chief of which is Mount
Holyoke.
My impressions of this village, which must be attractive at all times,
were perhaps heightened by the circumstances under which it was viewed.
A delightful day’s travelling had terminated at a comfortable hotel. The
air was luxuriously balmy, and a cloudless sun, on the eve of setting,
imparted a rich mellow tint to the face of nature, with which every
person of observation, leading a country life, must be familiar, and
have experienced how decorative it is to vegetation, and soothingly
gratifying to human feelings. The houses, decked in white and green
colours, which harmonize in rural scenery, and are associated with
purity and shade, so desirable during an American summer, were in
keeping with the landscape. In seeking for a comparison to Northampton,
memory suggested the village of Dirleton, near to my native place in
Scotland. But Dirleton, although associated with some of my best
cherished recollections, and containing a picturesque ruin shrouded in
ivy, and adorned with shrubbery of unrivalled sweetness, yielded to
Northampton in situation, buildings, and vegetable beauty.
Having carried Mr Stuart’s work, “Three Years’ Residence in America,”
with us, as a kind of guide-book, for which it is recommended in the
author’s preface, we experienced considerable disappointment at being
unable to corroborate his description of Northampton. Instead of finding
that “much of the pavement and steps are of white marble,” we could only
observe a small portion which consisted of red brick. I shall not,
however, take upon me to say there is no white marble pavement or steps
in the village, but three of us walked about for an hour and a half
without discovering a single stone of white marble; we did not, of
course, approach villas remotely situated from the public roads, with a
view of gratifying our curiosity, but every street, lane, and walk which
promised gratification, were explored. His allusions to the vegetable
beauties are also unhappy, when he says, “if a traveller in Britain were
to stumble on such a place as this, he would not fail to enquire whose
great estate was in the neighbourhood, and attribute the decorations of
shrubs, flowers, &c., which adorn even the smallest habitations here, to
the taste of a wealthy neighbour, or his being obliged to make them to
promote electioneering views.” In the streets of Northampton, we
numbered three or four bushes of lilac and white pipe, and a few roses,
as the amount of shrubs adorning the foreground of houses, and flowers
of small size were equally rare. The spaces were generally unmown grass,
and in several instances luxuriant thistles and docks excluded light
from the apartments. At the back part of the hotel in which we lodged,
there was a garden, surrounded with a low ugly wooden fence, and crowded
with the gaudiest of flowers, but our general impression was, that the
gardens are ill kept, void of beauty, and unworthy of the place. I would
require no better illustration of the small progress the inhabitants of
the United States have made in gardening than Northampton, where man
hath long resided, and done so little to improve the exquisite beauties
of nature.
We left Northampton at three o’clock next morning, and passed the bridge
and valley of Connecticut before daybreak, breakfasting at Balchertown,
and passing through Ware and Brookfield to Worcester, where we dined,
and reached Boston Tremont hotel in the evening.
The stage passengers, in course of the day, were intelligent,
communicative, and agreeable companions, polite during meals, and
frequently asking others to partake of the dishes they distributed. A
gentleman asked me if the old mode of courting in Scotland was still
practised—when, after the consent of the lady’s parents had been
obtained, she was mounted on horseback, and her suitor placed in a
similar situation, and if he could not overtake the fair one, it was
considered a refusal. I laughed heartily, and assured him it was the
first time I had heard of such a custom existing in my country, which,
in all probability, never existed there, and could not now, as most of
the youth of both sexes were denied the luxury of riding, by a heavy tax
on saddle-horses. He rejoined, with an air of astonishment—“What! horses
taxed! Does any thing escape government? Would a man having a nose
longer than his companion’s be taxed for it?” I answered, “if he filled
it with snuff—a practice very common amongst my countrymen—he would be
taxed.”
The villages through which we passed presented the same characters—white
wooden houses with green Venetian blinds, and every thing wearing the
appearance of cleanliness, order, and comfort.
The use of wood for fuel, the machinery of the manufacturing
villages—and all of them may be termed such—being propelled by water,
and the absence of coal smoke, contribute, in no small degree, to the
external cleanliness of the houses and garments of the inhabitants.
Manufacturing establishments were conspicuous in every direction, and
innumerable bundles of rye straw were bleaching around the cottages—the
manufacturing of straw hats to an immense extent being carried on in
this district.
We passed the workmen employed at the Boston and Worcester railway, at
present in progress, and which, it is said, will ultimately be extended
to Albany. Agriculture furnishes little of interest, the soil is poor,
and the crops partaking of its character—rye being the prevailing crop.
Small patches of Indian corn were observed, nearly destroyed by frost;
and the pastures were inferior. In the neighbourhood of Worcester, many
of the fences consist of stone walls. Within a few miles of Boston five
or six men were engaged in throwing peats out of a bog, seemingly for
the purpose of fuel.
The horses observed on the roads were lean and inferior. Draught oxen
seemed in good condition, and of large size. Many of the cows were
finely formed, of a deep red colour, with dark faces. Barberry, elder,
and alder were growing plentifully in a state of nature. The
rhododendron seemed to occupy the place of furze in Scotland—the kalmia
that of heath.
CHAPTER VII.
_Journey from Boston to Lowell—Lynn—Salem—Newburghport—Female waiters,
or helps—Agricultural notices—Stage passengers—Lowell—Manufacturing
females—American and British manufacturers—House building—Benevolent
Societies—Water power—Manufacturing power of Britain and the United
States—Notices of Nature._
Having had my eyes injured in travelling from Albany, I was unable to
enjoy the sights of Boston—accomplishing only, with the aid of a shade,
the delivery of a letter at 50, North Market, where there is an
extensive assortment of agricultural implements, meriting the notice of
farmers.
Next day we left Boston for Newburghport, a distance of twenty-four
miles, travelling by way of Lynn and Salem, the latter containing about
13,000 inhabitants, many of whom are extensively engaged in the Indian
trade, and the former containing 4000 souls, is celebrated for the
manufacture of ladies’ shoes.
Newburghport is situated on the banks of the river Merrimack, three
miles from its mouth, over which there is a suspension bridge of six
arches, 350 yards in length. It possesses considerable trade, and
contains a population of about 7000 souls. In our progress through the
New England States, attendants at table, except in cities, were chiefly
females, more especially during tea, which is invariably served out by
them. The female waiters at Newburghport were ladylike in manners and
appearance, and politely opened the door on our retiring from meals. In
every case that came under our notice, their demeanour was
prepossessing, and such as would command respect from gentlemen. Having
been unaccustomed to such attendants, I felt disappointed at the manner
in which their services were received at table—a polite or kind
expression never being addressed to them, and their assiduous attentions
unacknowledged. In no instance did I observe a female attendant seat
herself at table, nor even in the room with the guests of a hotel, and
only on one occasion, in a private house, a help of slender years
occupied a seat in a dark corner of the room during tea, when her
assistance was not required. I do not see why a help of low or high
degree should not seat herself when her services are not wanted. There
are many anomalies in human customs. In Asiatic countries, the slave is
required to bend himself almost in the dust, while in Britain the
superior exacts homage in an erect posture.
Remaining for the night at Newburghport, we hired a gig for the purpose
of visiting a farm fourteen miles distant, belonging to a gentleman
residing at New York, to whom, for his polite and friendly attention, I
am much indebted, and should feel pleasure in having an opportunity of
expressing my gratitude by deeds. We returned by Newburghport, in time
for dinner, after which we proceeded by stage to Lowell, along the banks
of the Merrimack by Andover.
The country from Boston to Newburghport and the interior, which we
visited, is low and marshy, with a poor soil and inferior crops. The
pastures appeared in most cases suffering from want of drainage and
previous management. In the eastern States of America, and more
especially in those of New England, hay is the best paying article of
farm produce, which induces farmers to mow their grass lands when first
sown down, year after year, so long as the herbage can be collected with
the scythe, after which it is converted into pasturage. Grass land so
treated cannot fail of yielding a poor return in pasturage in any
country, and more especially in the States of New England, where there
are few natural grasses, the soil poor, and where the husbandman does
not assist nature by a judicious supply of seeds. Many of the enclosures
consist of stone walls; and in one instance, near Boston, I observed an
excellent thorn hedge. On the farm which we visited, there was a good
short-horn bull, and a thrashing-machine. The wheat straw of the
preceding year was sadly mildewed. In one instance I observed meadow
foxtail grass growing in a situation which induced me to think it was
indigenous.
The surface of the country along the banks of the Merrimack, after
leaving Newburghport, is finely undulating, and several sweet lakes were
seen. The soil, on passing Andover, was of the worst description of
sand, bearing crops truly wretched. A few patches of hops were seen in
the fields.
The stage from Newburghport to Lowell was crowded with well-dressed
females, unembarrassed in manner, untainted with forwardness or
vulgarity, and who evidently had not been accustomed to high life. On
our arrival at Lowell, we observed several stages deposit loads of the
same sex, which circumstance was accounted for by the extensive
cotton-manufactories situated in the immediate neighbourhood. There is a
constant succession of females departing from, and arriving at, Lowell;
the high wages of those attending the factories attract such as
particularly want a sum of money, after obtaining which they return
home.
Lowell is the chief seat of cotton manufactures in the United States;
was formerly a section of the town of Chelmsford, and derives its name
from Francis Lowell, who introduced the manufacture of cotton into the
States. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Merrimack and
Concord, and has risen into manufacturing importance of late years. The
source of its riches and power is the water of the Merrimack, which is
conducted to the town by a canal, one mile and a half in length, eight
feet deep, and sixty wide, distributed by lateral branches, and again
discharged, either into the Merrimack or Concord; the fall being
thirty-two feet. Lowell communicates with Boston, from which it is
distant twenty-five miles, by a canal, and a railway is now forming.
The manufactures comprehend those of cotton, and woollen of various
kinds, gunpowder, ale, &c. The chief manufacturing company is the
Merrimack, which, in 1832, employed four hundred males and nine hundred
females, with one thousand looms and twenty-six thousand spindles at
work.
By the census of Lowell for January, 1828, the total population was
3532, of which 2190 were females. On 12th June, 1830, the population was
6477, whereof 4085 were females. The following is the census on 1st
June, 1832—
_White Males._ │ _White Females._
10 (_under_) 703│10 (_under_) 771
10 to 20 563│10 to 20 1,465
20 to 30 1,996│20 to 30 2,735
30 to 40 720│30 to 40 638
40 to 50 208│40 to 50 238
50 to 60 62│50 to 60 83
Above 60 27│Above 60 52
Grand Total, 10,254.
The females engaged in manufacturing amount to nearly 5000, and as we
arrived at Lowell on the afternoon of Saturday, we had an opportunity of
seeing those connected with some of the largest cotton factories
retiring from labour. All were clean, neat, and fashionably attired,
with reticules hanging on their arms, and calashes on their heads. They
commonly walked arm in arm without displaying levity. Their general
appearance and deportment was such that few British gentlemen, in the
middle ranks of life, need have been ashamed of leading any one of them
to a tea-party. Next day, being Sunday, we saw the young females
belonging to the factories going to church in their best attire, when
the favourable impressions of the preceding evening were not effaced.
They lodge, generally, in boarding-houses, and earn about 8s. 6d.
sterling per week, independent of board; serving girls earn about 4s.
3d.
The recent introduction of large manufacturing establishments, thin
population, and ample reward of labour, account for the apparent comfort
and propriety of the Lowell young women. The situation of the
manufacturing class in Britain is very different: nurtured amidst
poverty and vice, they toil in crowded and unwholsome factories from
infancy, often disregarded by parents and employers, and attaining
maturity ruined in constitution and in morals, with few of the
sympathies of humanity.
The factories and dwelling-houses at Lowell are mostly composed of
brick, although good building stone is to be had everywhere. The people
seem to be influenced by habit in house-building at Lowell; a wooden
dwelling-house was being erected where rock, which had been dug from the
cellar, was obstructing its progress, and thousands of loads of stones
quarried in forming a railway, were lying at not more than one hundred
yards distant. Here I saw a stone arch building across a lateral branch
of the canal, which was the only bridge of that material I saw—wood
generally being used for their construction. Many large sized
dwelling-houses and factories were in the progress of erection.
Lowell is connected with the village Belvedere by a bridge over the
river Concord, the water of which is also employed in propelling
machinery. In Lowell there are seven newspapers published, one of which
is a daily paper. There are no less than forty religious and benevolent
societies—a magnitude of number, owing, perhaps, to the many religious
sects wishing to equal each other in good deeds. This village may be
taken as an instance of the giant strides by which the United States are
advancing to greatness, and the immeasurable water power nature has
lavished on them. The canal supplies more water than the present
machinery requires; and, after inspecting the surplus in the canal and
rivers, I am of opinion, there is water enough to propel nearly one
hundred times the machinery at present employed, and which might employ
a population of above a hundred thousand souls.
Britain is said to owe much of her greatness to the supply of coal with
which she has been blessed; but however extensive and available it may
be, the water power of the United States will excel it in cheapness and
magnitude. The price of labour is, and will likely continue, much
cheaper in Britain than in the United States, which seems the only
circumstance that can ultimately give a superiority to the manufactories
of the former.
The strawberry plant was met with in every direction throughout our
excursions, and the fruit was found to be of superior quality on very
poor soil on the banks of the Concord. In one instance I removed a plant
from the earth, the leaves of which did not cover three-fourths of an
inch in diameter, bearing two ripe berries and one unripe. The
apple-trees from Boston to Lowell exhibited leafless trunks; and, on
inspection, I found the cankerworm which was said to have destroyed them
had disappeared.
At Newburghport the noise of toads and land turtles, in the evenings,
was deafening. At Lowell we first became acquainted with the call of the
bull-frog, which in loudness and expression strongly resembles the note
of the English bull.
CHAPTER VIII.
_Journey from Lowell to Saratoga—Keene—Bellows
Falls—Townsend—Arlington—Driver at Table—Landlord and Driver—Passage
of the Green Mountains—Stage Coach practices of America and
Britain—Passengers and Travellers—Juvenile Politeness—Agricultural
Notices—New England Villages—Free School Education unfairly
estimated by British travellers—Education of Scotland and the United
States—Public Schools—Fagging in the Seminaries of
Britain—Principles of Education._
We left Lowell on the morning of the 2d June, passing through Gorton,
Townsend, New Ipswich, Jeffrey, and Keene, a pretty little town with a
neat square, in which there is a church with a handsome spire, and many
of the houses are composed of brick. The situation is an extensive plain
surrounded by well-wooded hills, but the beauty of the place is injured
by the want of trees and grass in front of the houses in the square. The
population amounts to about 2500 souls. There are two glass
manufactories—two for cotton, and one for woollen are about to be
erected.
Bellows Falls are romantically situated on the river Connecticut, the
approach passing round the base of a beautiful mountain, and over a
bridge across the rapids of the river. The manufacture is paper, the
machinery propelled by water obtained from a canal half a mile in
length, and there is a vast unemployed power.
Townsend is a small village lying in the bosom of a sweet amphitheatre
of hills of limited extent. Its general effect is somewhat destroyed by
a glaring church spire, the basement of which is painted white, the
middle part pea-green, and the top a chocolate colour.
Arlington consists of a few houses; it has a stone church, finished with
turrets of wood work, a combination of materials in the exterior of
buildings very common in the United States and the Canadas.
At New Ipswich, the driver of the stage seated himself at table with the
passengers, which was the only instance of the kind that came under my
observation. Some of the passengers were of the most genteel
description, and the driver conducted himself with propriety.
On arriving at Bellows Falls, the landlord of the hotel saluted the
stage driver with “How do you do, captain?” and he answered—“Quite well,
major—this is a cold morning.” The major in question ushered us into the
breakfast room, where he presided with a suavity of manner that would
have done credit to a Frenchman; and I considered this individual the
most courteous I met with in the course of my tour. The hotel-keepers of
the country are the noblesse of the district, and are generally chosen,
by the people, officers of the militia. Captain is a general title for
stage drivers; and I found, both in the States and Upper Canada, that
military titles of high sounding were often used as nicknames. I did not
enquire if our driver was actually a military captain, but so far as
appearance entitles a man to rank, he might have been a field-marshal.
The road from Jeffrey to Arlington is through a poor hilly country,
abounding in scenic beauty of infinite variety, which afforded me more
pleasure than the banks of the Hudson. From Bellows Falls to Arlington
we passed over what, in common parlance of the country, is termed a new
built turnpike, leading through the Green Mountains, which had been only
a few weeks open to travellers, and some parts of which were almost
impassable. Twenty miles of this road is through a dense forest, quite
impervious to the sun’s rays; and for five or six miles on the other
side of the Green Mountains towards Arlington, in a deep narrow ravine,
the rocks and hills being finely wooded to the summit. The country opens
up into picturesque views towards Sunderland, which is a few miles from
Arlington.
Passing the night in a crowded hotel at Arlington, we proceeded next
morning to Saratoga, by Union Village and Schuyler-ville, where the
stage stopped a little after twelve, to afford two passengers an
opportunity of dining, who did not take breakfast at Arlington, although
only twelve miles distant from Saratoga, the end of our journey. This
accommodating spirit of stage-coaches stopping whenever passengers
choose to feed, and calling for or setting them down at their respective
residences in towns, seems at variance with the character of the people,
and is somewhat trying to the temper of a newly-imported traveller. In
Britain travellers must wait for the coaches which arrive and depart
from each place at specified hours, with perfect punctuality. In America
the coaches wait for the travellers, and the consequent irregularity is
such, that if a coach is said to reach a given place by twelve, there is
an equal chance whether it does so by twelve at noon or midnight.
The road from Arlington passes for many miles along the river
Battenkill, the banks of which afford good sheep-pasturage, and some
fine grain-growing districts were seen near Cambridge, before reaching
Union Village.
From Schuyler-ville to Saratoga, the soil is of the quality of
drift-sand. A fence of considerable extent was observed on the wayside,
composed of pine-tree roots adhering to the trunks, and placed close to
each other, so as to form an effectual barrier against ordinary
intruders. This was the most picturesque fence I ever beheld.
The stage passengers and other travellers we came in contact with
throughout our excursion in the states of New England, were chiefly
mechanics, unobtrusive in manner, intelligent, and free from vulgarity.
They conversed on every subject connected with their own and other
countries, and betrayed none of that question-searching curiosity
imputed to the population. They seemed to possess a general knowledge of
British literature, and more especially of the works of Sir Walter Scott
and Robert Burns. They are also familiar with the works of Captain Hall
and Mrs. Trollope, and occasionally asked if I found the people of the
States as inquisitive as represented by those writers. The proceedings
and success of Dr. Franklin were often quoted; and the life of that
great man seems to have had no small share in stamping the character of
this class of the population.
The external appearance of the houses after passing the Green Mountains
became gradually less attractive, till at last they were little better
than mere log-houses.
Primary or State school-houses were frequently seen, and I regretted not
having an opportunity of examining the proficiency of the pupils. The
little boys attending the schools were often going without stockings or
shoes, and the girls generally wore flowing trowsers to their ankles. On
one occasion, in passing through the state of Vermont, I observed four
little girls and two boys going to school, dressed in clean clothes,
with nice little baskets over their arms, which I conjectured to contain
their dinner. When the stage passed by them, the misses curtsied, and
the boys bowed to the passengers. I was much gratified at this voluntary
and unexpected display of juvenile politeness, and repeatedly kissed my
hand in return; but recollecting they might not understand such a mode
of acknowledgment, I leant my head out at the coach window and bowed
familiarly, when they seemed delighted at my interchange of civilities,
and smiled to each other.
A valued friend, residing in the neighbourhood of Montreal, informed me
he was visiting at Rochester, in the state of New York, in 1831, when a
plain-dressed little girl approached the window of a cottage at which he
was seated, on a fine summer evening, and curtsying, asked him for a
rose, a flower which was growing profusely round the cottage. He told
her to help herself to the prettiest she could find, but being afraid of
injuring the bush, she returned, asked the use of his knife, which being
granted, she departed with the object of her affections.
The surface of the New England States is often hilly, always highly
undulating, and the soil generally rocky, and of the most inferior
description of sand. The staple crop appeared to be rye; and we did not
observe fifty acres of wheat throughout a journey of 400 miles. The
grass was scanty, and seemingly incapable of fattening oxen, from its
inferior quality. The cattle, as already stated, were of a good breed,
but often remarkably lean. Sheep were inferior, and so also were horses
used for farming purposes. The mode of farming did not meet my
approbation; but perhaps bad land, like bad wives, can be managed by
every one but by those who possess them; and a foreigner unacquainted
with the peculiarities of the district cannot be an infallible judge of
such matters. It appears to me, however, impossible that the New England
States can furnish food sufficient for the population; and the time is
perhaps near at hand when the whole produce will not do more than
maintain the agriculturists, and supply the manufacturers with dairy
produce, leaving their butcher-meat and bread to come from other
districts. The present farmers find difficulty in earning a subsistence,
and any thing paid in the name of rent must be truly insignificant.
The villages of New England are uniformly clean, airy, and neat, with
spacious openings near the centre, in which churches form the most
prominent feature. Indeed, a village is seldom seen without having two
or three churches of considerable size, composed of wood, painted white,
and surmounted with a spire, and generally flanked with a considerable
extent of shades for waggons and horses belonging to people coming from
a distance. The houses are, in some instances, built of brick, but more
frequently of wood, painted white, with green Venetian blinds, opening
to the outside. Both churches and dwelling-houses seem to be painted
annually; at least, they are never seen in the slightest degree dingy
coloured. The houses of every size and fabric, have a light appearance
from the number of windows they contain, the legislature not taxing the
inhabitants for enjoying air and light through the medium of windows as
in Britain. The houses seldom indicate either extensive wealth or
poverty of the inmates; and although the architectural decorations are
often in bad taste, and the materials of which they consist associated
in the mind of the Europeans with instability, yet the general effect is
highly pleasing, and the villages want only the judicious aid of flowers
and shrubs to render them absolutely beautiful.
The system of Free-school education in the Eastern States does not
appear to have been fairly estimated by some British travellers. Mr.
Stuart, in chapter xiv. of “Three Years’ Residence in America,” states,
“the general plan of education at the public Free-schools, is not
confined to merely reading, writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping, and
the ancient and modern languages, but comprehends grammar, mathematics,
navigation, geography, history, logic, political economy, and rhetoric;
moral and natural philosophy; their schools being, as stated in the
printed regulations, intended to occupy the young people from the age of
four to seventeen;” and in chapter xvi. he takes the same view when
conversing with President Jackson. Captain Basil Hall and Mr. Hamilton
seem to consider them charity-schools, and consequently objectionable to
an independent people.
The public Free-schools, or what are called “common schools,” and
maintained by public funds, are managed in each district by twelve
directors, chosen by the people, at which children are taught gratis,
the parents furnishing books. The funds being inadequate to provide
teachers during the whole year, men are engaged to teach in winter, and
women, who are engaged at a cheaper rate, to teach during the summer.
The period of teaching varies according to the extent of funds, which
are managed with economy, and seldom exceeds nine months throughout the
year, and in some States only six months. In one or two States, there is
also a Free grammar-school in each county town.
It has been formerly stated, that an opportunity of examining the common
schools of New England did not occur. I, however, saw the scholars of
upwards of twenty of them in the school-houses, and on the play-ground.
I also saw several of the teachers. None of the scholars, who, in
summer, are chiefly girls, seemed above twelve years of age, and the
teachers were invariably females. From this circumstance, it appeared to
me that Mr. Stuart had confounded the district common schools with the
grammar-schools of the county towns; and many of the natives, to whom I
showed his account of the schools, readily agreed in this view. Indeed,
to state that little children and female teachers in the woods of
America should be engaged in logic, rhetoric, and navigation, is taxing
credulity too far.
The funds, remunerating teachers of common schools, being provided by
the State, _for general use_, not only removes from the inhabitants any
feeling of degradation or dependence, in the education of their
children, but renders it their duty to prefer such seminaries, when the
teachers are equally good. It is singular that Captain Hall and Mr
Hamilton, both Scotsmen, should consider these schools eleemosynary and
degrading, when the religious establishment, as well as the schools of
their own country, are similarly situated. The inhabitants of Britain do
not consider themselves partaking of charity when listening to teachers
of religion, or preachers in connexion with establishments, nor when
educating their children at public seminaries, the teachers of which are
almost always in part remunerated by public funds, and the fees
consequently lower than they would otherwise be. In private tuition the
teacher has, in most cases, received his education in part from public
funds, and, in consequence, is a cheap source of instruction. The
principle of public education in Scotland and the United States is the
same, and if at all eleemosynary, the degree is less in the American
States, where the inhabitants generally have a voice in levying and
disposing of the funds. The Scotch system of schools is, however,
preferable, by guarding against a change of teachers, frequently
injurious to the progress of those under tuition—the appointment of
parochial teachers being for life, or during good behaviour; and each
session continuing throughout the year, with the exception of two or
three weeks’ vacation. The schools are not like those in the States,
free; but in consequence of the teachers having a fixed salary, the fees
may be said to be half-price, which operates on the diligence of the
teachers, and is a considerable boon to the inhabitants. In some of the
States, where common schools are open half the year, the expense to
parents is nearly the same as in Scotland, where the parochial school is
open throughout the year at half-price, without, however, the pupils
having a chance of making the same progress.
Public schools are founded on the principle of diffusing knowledge
amongst the people, thereby raising the standard of morality—by which
crime is prevented, and good government secured. Simple, and in some
respects defective, as the American common school system is, it has,
nevertheless, succeeded well, and seems suited to the present wants of
the people.
Reading and writing, with the elements of arithmetic, which can be
attained in a few years, enable those to improve themselves by
application who are at all desirous of acquiring knowledge. Indeed, the
learning generally obtained at school may be regarded as but a
foundation to build on in after life; and therefore the schools of the
United States and Scotland supply, alike, the primary means of ultimate
improvement. A longer and severer course of mental study than afforded
by these institutions often converts weak minds into polished nothings,
without adding to the usefulness of the man.
The system of fagging, so generally introduced into the higher
seminaries of England, and which may be described as each of the senior
members holding a junior in slavery, requiring not only the discharge of
menial services, such as brushing clothes, and cleaning shoes, but often
the performance of criminal and immoral actions, is altogether unknown
in the States. Fagging is so complete and systematic in many of the
English schools, that the junior boys have not the power of resisting
the commands of their seniors, and must lie or steal at their nod. Such
a system inculcates passive obedience in the weak, and absolute power in
the strong; the ductile youth, after being corrupted by vice, and
degraded by offices of slavery, becomes, in turn, slave-master, when
recollections of his former sufferings leads him to exercise his power
with more zeal, and when so trained, he is sent forth to play his part
in the world. Powerful minds occasionally overcome the effects of this
pernicious education, but ordinary ones are unable to do so. It is
chiefly the aristocracy of Britain who are reared under the fagging
system, and it unfortunately too often influences their conduct in after
life. A law prohibiting fagging in seminaries of youth would be a
blessing to Britain, where man too often fags his fellow-creatures.
Fagging has found an eloquent advocate in Mr. Hamilton, in his work
entitled “Men and Manners in America,” wherein he seems to consider its
menial duties as tending to overcome pride of birth and station. But
even in this narrow view fagging must be condemned, as the menial
offices are forcibly imposed, and flow not from philanthropy of feeling
or legitimate authority, but from usurped and overpowering tyranny.
Menial offices in the seminaries of England are the means of corrupting,
not of improving youth, and fagging fosters the worst of human vices. If
pride of birth and station is to be corrected, public schools where
fagging is unknown, and where all the pupils are placed on an equality,
will best attain the object.
Mr Hamilton treats of fagging as if it were general in England, whereas
it exists only in the higher description of schools, and is, I believe,
altogether unpractised in Scotland. When lately discussing this point, a
friend stated that fagging existed at the academy of Dollar in Scotland;
and on applying to my brother Charles, who was educated at that
seminary, if such was the case, I learned that he himself was the only
instance of an attempt of the kind, a big fellow having claimed such a
privilege on his first arrival, and which was frustrated by Willie M——
and he joining and beating the tyrant well. Very few Scotch boys would
feel inclined to fag their companions, and still fewer to submit to such
a bondage.
The education of youth ought to embrace all that is necessary for
discharging the duties of life, and is most effectual when combining
industrious and moral habits with the highest degree of mental
cultivation—on such a principle some of the schools of continental
Europe are founded, and it is also acted on in one or two instances in
the State of New York.
CHAPTER IX.
_Company at Saratoga—Fast Eating—Notices of Buel Farm—Mr Buel—New
York—State Agricultural Society—Advantages of a young
country—Farmers of Britain and the States—British Agricultural
Societies._
We reached Saratoga, the most celebrated watering-place in America,
about two o’clock, and found accommodation at Congress Hall, the
principal hotel in the village, and capable of accommodating 300
individuals. On retiring to prepare for dinner, my friend and I debated
the nature of the attire in which we should appear—he conceiving it
unnecessary to change our travelling garb, and I thinking it proper to
assume full dress, in expectation of meeting the gay, wealthy, and
polished of the land. We soon found ourselves seated at a second dinner
table, consisting of a numerous company, which the railway coaches had
just brought from Albany. The party displayed few symptoms of
refinement. A gentleman on the opposite side of the table deliberately
folded up the sleeves of his coat before commencing dinner, planted both
elbows on the table, and swallowed his food voraciously, without once
looking to the right or left. I felt, and perhaps looked, disappointed
at the hurried manner in which the party dined; and on the company
leaving table immediately afterwards, my friend enjoyed his triumph of
opinion, and quizzed my shoes and stockings, as a marked singularity
which both of us were anxious to avoid. Tea was served at seven o’clock,
and, as usual, the repast was a regular feeding race. Business may have
originated, but it cannot always excuse the practice of fast eating; and
the inmates of Congress Hall were in perfect idleness.
In the industrious and lower ranks of life I observed slower
mastication, and greater politeness and attention to each other at table
than what is generally met with at fashionable hotels. The former
frequent boarding-houses, not very plentifully supplied with waiters, or
female helps, and they consequently assist each other in carving, and
other duties of the table, while they have fixed hours of relaxation
from business, affording ample time for eating, whereas commercial men,
and other people who are not laboriously employed, eat at table with
numerous attendants, and at short intervals snatched from business.
Therefore, the traveller in America who draws an inference from what he
witnesses at the public tables of hotels, unfavourable to the manners of
the lower ranks of the inhabitants, does them injustice.
At Saratoga we tasted the different mineral waters, so deservedly
celebrated, and next morning travelled to Albany by the railway. The
soil over which we passed was unproductive sand, with exception of the
banks of the Mohawk, in the vicinity of Schenectady. Betwixt Schenectady
and Albany, the plains of the railway exhibited sand of fifty feet deep,
having a thick covering of small pine-trees.
I was fortunate in finding Mr. Buel at home, so well known as a farmer
throughout the Union. I walked over this gentleman’s grounds on my first
visit to Albany, and enjoyed the same privilege a third time in October.
The surface is highly undulating, the soil inferior sand, and extremely
wet, though capable of being drained. Notwithstanding these
disadvantages, some good crops were seen, more especially Indian corn
and Swede turnip, the latter having been sown after a hay crop, with
bone manure, manufactured by Mr Buel himself; and the state of the farm
is, perhaps, one of the most striking instances in America of man
overcoming the sterilities of nature.
Some attempts had been made at enclosing with hedges, consisting of
American and British thorn, as well as locust. The hedges were not of
sufficient age to enable me to judge of the fitness of the
last-mentioned plant for farm purposes; but I certainly did not augur
favourably of it, from the specimen before me. The American thorn was
preferred by Mr Buel to the British; and, perhaps, indigenous plants
will generally be found superior to foreign ones. In the present
instance, however, the soil was not such as I have found congenial to
the British thorn, and the management of the fences had not been
unexceptionable. A few days afterwards I had a proof of the growing
powers of British thorn at Geneva, where I cut a growth of the season on
the 24th. of June, from the hedge of Mr W——’s garden, three feet in
length. This, joined to the fine hedge of Mr F—— of the same place,
establishes the fitness of the British thorn for the climate of America.
The American thorn has very broad leaves, large fruit containing several
seeds; and when growing in single trees, has horizontal branches, few
prickles, and is apparently more dwarfish than the British species,
which possesses pendulous branches, with numerous prickles. The British
thorn has the property of growing throughout spring, summer, and autumn,
which, with its numerous and strong prickles, eminently fits it for a
fence plant.
Although Mr Buel’s farm is much celebrated, it presents few attractions
to any one conversant with British agriculture. He is himself, however,
an object of interest to the farmer of any country who has studied his
profession. His conversation on a variety of subjects amply unfolded to
me the treasures of an enlarged and well-stored mind, and I was
delighted to find his views of improving agriculture harmonize with what
I had long advocated in my humble sphere. At separation he presented me
with the printed proceedings of the New York State Agricultural Society,
of a considerable portion of which he is the author; and I imagine a day
spent with Mr. Buel one of the richest agricultural treats that can be
enjoyed in North America.
The New York State Agricultural Society was incorporated by act of the
Legislature, on 26th April, 1832. A Report, recommending a Legislative
grant, was approved, at a general meeting of the Society, in February,
1833, and in all probability the grant has been obtained before this
time. I extract the Report, as conveying, in the general remarks, with a
few exceptions, my own sentiments.
“_Report of the Select Committee on the Memorial of the New York State
Agricultural Society._
“Mr Sudam, from the select committee to which was referred the memorial
of the New York State Agricultural Society, praying for the
establishment of an Agricultural School,
“Reported:—That they have had under their consideration the subject
submitted to them, accompanied by a report made, during the present
session, to the New York Agricultural Society, and on which their
memorial to the Legislature is predicated.
“It will be conceded that there is no portion of the community more
entitled to the fostering care of the Legislature, than the tillers of
the soil. The farmers of the State of New York are a class numerous,
wealthy, industrious, patriotic, and above all other classes, from
principle, devoted to our republican institutions, and cherishing with a
holy spirit the union of our States. Their political exertions are not
called forth by a desire of any great portion of their own body for
legislative honours, or for those of the minor judicial situations in
the State; but to maintain and preserve inviolate that sacred trust
which has descended to them by the revolutionary efforts of their
fathers, the full protection of life, liberty, and property.
“When a storm arises in the horizon, and danger awaits us from abroad,
or when crazed ambition at home drives the frenzied passions of men to
madness and all its excesses, it is in the farming interest of the
country that you find the steady hand which holds the balance of
political power, and by its strong arm repels the foe, or by its
electoral voice annihilates the unjust hopes of the aspiring ambition of
profligate politicians.
“It may be said by your committee, (without the imputation of a State
vanity,) that New York holds a high rank by her munificent endowments of
colleges, academies, and common schools. We, knowing their extent, need
not elaborate on them in this report. Still it is but just to say, that
she is already cited in Europe as a signal instance of what may be done
for the education of every class of society, under the soft and benign
influence of a free government, and that her motto is, ‘Knowledge is
wealth.’
“In her enterprise, by facilitating intercourse between the different
sections of her State and the waters of the Atlantic, she is as
unrivalled in conception as she has been successful in execution. Not
content with this, it is an admitted fact, and worthy of all honour,
that she has carried into effect the most perfect prison discipline in
the world; and we have already witnessed the wise and the humane of
Europe resorting to her shores to ascertain the art of subduing the
rebellious passions of the worst of our race, without the aid of those
sanguinary punishments which have so long disgraced the Old World.
“Thus she has expended millions of her money, and already has she
erected a monument to the wisdom of her statesmen, more durable than any
ever dedicated to the victor of a thousand fields.
“Who are they who have contributed so freely, so generously to
expenditures calculated to immortalize the State, and to establish its
glory on so pure a foundation? Mainly the farmers of your country, the
yeomen of the land, the tillers of the soil. Freely have they given, and
joyfully have they paid, and most rich results have been the consequence
of their enlightened liberality.
“Is it then unfair to ask, what has been done by the legislature for a
class of its citizens so numerous, virtuous, and meritorious? The
stranger, when he sojourns in our land, and views all that has been done
for the cause of science, for education in the higher branches of
literature, for your common schools, for the reformation and punishment
of crimes on a scale superior to any State in Europe, naturally
enquires: Show me your agricultural school. You are essentially an
agricultural people; a class of society who have aided so liberally to
the institutions of your State, must have received the constant and
peculiar care of legislative protection and patronage, by forming their
minds, their habits and their tempers to become the patrons of the noble
monuments already erected, and which, while they shed lustre on our
State, have placed her first among her sisters in the Union.
“Shall we any longer be compelled to answer? We have no such
institution; we have provided an ample revenue for all but a complete
course of _practical_ instruction in agriculture. In almost every State
in Europe, the attention of despotic governments has been called—nay,
seriously and sedulously directed to the formation and endowment of
schools of this description. There it is admitted the motive to a
certain extent may be mercenary—to provide _food_ for taxation. Here it
is a _debt due from the State_ to a class which, before they _asked for
themselves_, have _contributed to all others_.
“It is conceded by your committee, that to a certain extent farmers are
not fond of innovations. If experiments are tried, they are too often
limited to one or two. If they fail, it is condemned. That prejudices of
this description are fast wearing away, we admit; but that they still
exist, to a considerable extent, there can be no doubt. And a _gentleman
farmer_ is generally at hand, as an instance of a poor farmer. But it is
not the intention of the committee to endow an institution to rear up
and educate persons in the mere theory of husbandry. It is to combine
practice with science; and if it should be said that this would be a
school only for the children of the more opulent, the unanswerable
argument is, that it is the same in regard to your colleges, and must be
so of necessity. Still the results of such an education, practised upon
in all parts of the State, must and will lead to the most beneficial
results. A good example is worth a world of mere speculation.
“In a school of this kind, under competent managers, there may be
concentrated the best models of practice, in rural labour, known at home
or abroad. The various breeds of domestic animals, the varieties of
garden and orchard fruit, and the implements of husbandry, may be here
satisfactorily compared, and their relative merits and advantages
determined. Diversified experiments may be made in the various
departments of husbandry, calculated to instruct and improve us in
practice. Mechanical science, particularly what is denominated _The
Mechanics of Agriculture_, may be illustrated and taught in the best
manner, in the shops, and on the farm. The application of science to the
mechanic and manufacturing arts, has, in a wonderful degree, simplified
their manipulations, abridged their labour, and rendered their results
more certain. From what has already been done, we are not permitted to
hesitate or doubt but science will prove equally beneficial to
agriculture. There is no business which embraces a wider range in
natural science than this.
“The laws which govern organic and inorganic matter, which influence the
economy of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, it cannot be denied, have
a controlling influence in the operations of the soil, and in the
business of raising animals and plants. Education (practical education)
is nowhere calculated to diffuse a more benign influence in society,
than when bestowed on the farmer. He neither claims nor can exercise a
monopoly. _His_ improvements and _his_ knowledge diffuse light around
him, and are beneficial to all within the sphere of their influence.
“Your committee feel assured, that if put into operation, this school
will become, not only popular, but highly useful. To the pupil it will
afford the most important advantages, besides instruction in the
principles and practice of rural labour, which, of itself, confers the
power of creating wealth. It will afford him the advantages of a
_literary school_, qualify him for the higher duties of civil life, and
give him withal, what is seldom acquired but in youth, habits of labour
and application to business; calculated alike to promote his individual
happiness, and the good of the State.
“With such an education, combining personal labour for a practical
knowledge of all the instruments of husbandry, and the mode and manner
in which it is to be prosecuted, those scientific pursuits will be
prosecuted with a certainty that the foot of labour is guided by the
unerring results of experience, founded in and regulated by the laws of
nature.
“This school is intended to be purely agricultural. But in saying this,
it will be necessary to open a course of instruction, combined with
labour, which your committee venture to say, will be as interesting, and
to the State, as valuable, as that which may be acquired in any other
seminary. The different qualities of soil, as fitted for the various
products of the earth; the use of compost and manures, as applicable to
soils: the seasons for planting the rotation of crops, and the vast mass
of practical information which enables man to transform a wilderness
into a paradise, is worthy the pursuit of the _richest_ as well as the
humblest of the land.
“Again, the importance of procuring, at all times and at fair prices,
prime stock, of the best breeds of cattle, ought not to be omitted,
either as an inducement to the Legislature, or as of the first
importance to the people.
“The question is, shall we endow a school, to which many would desire to
send their children for the purpose of preparing them to depend in
future life on one of the most certain, and therefore the most happy of
human pursuits; combining in itself all the elements of constant,
regular, and sagacious employment; and freed from the cares and
corroding recollections, present or past, of the pursuits of a political
life?
“It is evident that law, divinity, and physic, are overstocked. The
pursuits of commerce are laborious, and do not very often yield a return
to persons of a moderate fortune and liberal education: as now educated,
they are not fitted for farmers; so tenaciously do those early habits
adhere to them, that the attempt at agriculture is generally a failure.
Your committee propose to give them a school, to which resort may be had
for the cultivation of the mind, and the improvement of the person:
Laying the foundation for future toils and pleasures, (for toils in
agriculture are pleasures, when conducted to a successful result,) for
future health and happiness, and preparing them to rear up a race, fit
to transmit to posterity the liberties we so highly cherish.
“Your committee do not, in this report, enter into a detail of the
expenditure necessary for this school. That is so fully treated of in
the annexed report to the Agricultural Society, that they could only
repeat what is there stated. But they cannot close without remarking
what must be obvious to all, how much skill and science may effect in
agricultural pursuits.
“Is there one of our body who has not seen, and remarked, the difference
in adjoining farms, where _nature had made no difference_ in the soil?
It is this practical skill, this science, combined with labour, that
they desire, (most anxiously desire,) to bestow on a rising generation;
and they deem it their duty, most earnestly, to press it on the
consideration of the Legislature, as called for by every consideration
due to the public welfare, to the true and lasting interests of the
State; and as the last, but most substantial pillar in the varied
edifice of her public institutions.
“Impressed with this belief, and that the school recommended will, in
many ways, prove highly beneficial to the community, and persuaded that
the State will ultimately be fully indemnified for her advances, your
committee have prepared a bill in conformity with the prayer of the
petitioners, which they have directed their chairman to ask leave to
present.”
“_Report of the State Agricultural Society, Albany, February 14th,
1833._
“The committee appointed at the first meeting of the Society, to report
a plan for an Agricultural School, with an estimate of the expense
necessary to establish and put the same into operation; together with
their views of such an establishment, beg leave to submit the following
report:—
“The main objects of the proposed school are, to impart to agriculture
the efficient aid of the sciences, and to furnish it with the best
models of practice; to teach, simultaneously, in the period of youth
devoted to academic studies, the practical operations of husbandry, and
such branches of useful knowledge as may tend to elevate its character
and increase its products. The _plan_, therefore, should embrace,
“1. A Farm, of sufficient extent to afford room for the diversified
operations of tillage, cattle and sheep husbandry, and of orcharding and
gardening—on a scale that will admit a fair comparison being made of
crops, of breeds of cattle and sheep, and of the varieties of hardy
fruits; and sufficiently diversified in soil and surface as to admit of
satisfactory experiments:
“2. A Farm House and Farm Buildings, which may serve as models of
convenience, taste and economy, and accommodate the head farmer and his
assistants:
“3. A School Building, for the accommodation of teachers and scholars:
“4. A Library and Philosophical Apparatus:
“5. Stock and Implements for the farm: and,
“6. Shops for the construction of farm implements and machinery, for the
use of the farm, for the illustration of mechanical science, and to
afford practical instructions to the pupils in mechanics.
“These items of expense, which may be considered preliminary and
permanent, together with the cost of the furniture required for the
school building, are estimated at $7,500.
“1. The plan of education might embrace: practical instructions in the
various operations and labours of the farm, the garden, the orchards,
and the shops: and,
“2. The study of the natural sciences generally, mathematics, mechanics,
chemistry, and drawing, so far as these may conduce or become
subservient to agricultural improvement; together with such other
branches of knowledge as will qualify the students for the higher duties
of civil life—such as will fit them to become independent electors,
discreet jurors, faithful magistrates, and wise legislators.
“As prerequisites to admission to the school, the pupils might be
required to possess a good common school education, to be at least
fourteen years of age, and of good moral character. Four years might
constitute a course of studies; and the internal regulations and police
of the school might be conformed, in a measure, to those of our military
academy.
“A department of the farm should be set apart for experiments in
husbandry, and the details and results of these experiments accurately
registered. The garden and the orchard should contain all the good hardy
fruits, and specimens of all hardy plants, that may be useful on the
farm, in the arts, in commerce, or that are ornamental—in order that the
relative value of different species and varieties may be determined, and
their mode of culture and process of curing taught to the pupils, and
the approved kinds furnished for public distribution.
“To put the school into operation, there will be required—a principal,
professors, and teachers—a steward and servants, for the school:
“A manager, labourers, and assistants, for the farm:
“Machinists and assistants for the shops: and,
“A practical and scientific manager for the garden and orchard.
“The number of officers and assistants which will be required, must
depend upon contingencies: and of course the committee do not pretend to
state with precision, in their estimate, the amount of their salaries
and pay.
“The proceeds of the school and the farm may be expected to increase for
some years, and will materially depend on the terms of tuition. The
committee have assumed, as reasonable data, that the number of pupils
would average 200, and the average produce of the farm amount to $4,000
per annum, for the first four years. Upon the assumed data, then, the
estimate would exhibit the following result:—
_Preliminary Expenses._
Farm of 400 acres, at $30, $12,000
Farm buildings, 6,000
School buildings, 25,000
Library and Apparatus, 7,500
Stock and implements, 3,150
Shops and tools, 1,250
Furniture for school, 1,150
Incidental, 1,500
———————
Total preliminary expense, $57,550
_Annual Expense._
Salaries of officers and teachers of the school, $5,100
do manager and labourers on farm, 1,000
do machinists, 600
do gardener, 300
Expense of boarding 200 pupils, at $1,50 per week, 14,400
Servants for the establishment, 2,000
———————
Estimated annual expense, $23,400
———————
$80,950
=======
_The Annual Receipts are computed as follows_:
Board and tuition of 200 pupils, at $150 per annum, $30,000
Produce of farm, 4,000
———————
$34,000
=======
“Thus the total expense of establishing the school, and of maintaining
it the first year, is estimated at $80,950, and the income, after the
first year, it is believed, will be amply sufficient to defray all
expenses. Yet to meet contingencies that may occur, and to make up for
any deficiency in the estimate, the committee think that an
appropriation of $100,000, the surplus to be invested for the benefit of
the institution, will ensure usefulness and permanency to the school,
and prove amply sufficient to meet all its wants. This sum, if equalized
among the population of the State, would operate as a tax of about _five
cents_ to each inhabitant.
“Your committee have thus complied with the requisitions of the society,
in submitting the plan of an Agricultural School, and an estimate of the
expense necessary to establish and put the same into successful and
permanent operation. It only remains for them to state their opinion of
its utility.
“The agriculture of a country affords the best criterion of its
prosperity. Whether we compare kingdoms, states, counties, districts, or
farms; the condition of this branch of labour, which they severally
exhibit, is a sure index, not only of the pecuniary, but of its moral
condition. It is no less an axiom founded in truth, that agriculture
prospers or languishes, in proportion to the science and skill of the
men who manage its labours. It is not the natural fertility of the soil,
so much as the intelligence and industry of those who till it, which
gives to husbandry its interests and its rewards. The man who devotes
the energies of a highly cultivated mind, to the improvement of this
primitive and all-important branch of labour, is a public benefactor.
Cincinnatus did more to immortalize his name, and to command our
applause, by his love of rural labours, than by his military exploits.
Washington, amid all the honours that irradiated his brow, sought his
highest pleasures in the business and retirement of the farm. And it was
the first remark of our present chief magistrate, to the writer, after
introduction, that he would not forego the pleasures of the farm for all
the honours and emoluments that this nation could confer upon him.
Education enables man to appreciate the wonderful provisions which God
has made for his happiness in rural life, and imparts to him the ability
of diffusing instruction and happiness to multitudes around him.
“It should be the policy of government, therefore, which watches over
the interest of all, to infuse into the labours of husbandry, all the
lights of science and knowledge—to take care to expand and elevate the
minds of those who are to give it efficiency and character, and to call
forth skill and industry by proffered rewards. With us these
considerations possess peculiar force. Our population and business are
emphatically agricultural, and every aid which is extended to this class
benefits, indirectly, every portion of the community. Agriculture
constitutes the fountains of the thousand rills, which, swelling and
traversing every part of the State, propel the spindle and the hammer of
the artisan and the manufacturer, and finally, by their union, make up
the mighty stream of commerce which unceasingly flows into the Atlantic.
“That our agriculture is susceptible of improvement—that the products of
its labours may be doubled, nay, quadrupled, must be apparent to those
who have compared our husbandry with that of some European countries, or
who have contrasted at home the well-cultivated district or farm with
those which are badly managed. How is the desired amelioration to be
effected? How can a better husbandry be so well promoted, as by teaching
it to our youth? By sowing our seed in the springtime of life? Prejudice
nowhere retains a stronger hold than among farmers who have approached
or passed the meridian of life. While some retain old practices, for
want of confidence in their knowledge to guide them in better ones,
others lack the first requisites to improvement—a consciousness that
their system is not the most useful; while not a few are influenced, in
their hostility to public means of improvement, by the desire to keep
things to their own level. If we would efficiently improve this great
branch of business, and elevate its character, as well as the character
of those who are engaged in its operations, we must do what universal
experience has shown to be the only sure method. We must lay our
foundation in the rising generation—we must teach the _young_ idea how
to shoot—we must instruct the head to help the hands. Our physical and
mental powers are twin sisters; they lighten each other’s labour, and
mutually impart a zest to each other’s enjoyments. And as it is becoming
common to introduce manual labour into literary schools, it is courteous
that literature and science should requite the civility, by associating
with the inmates of schools of labour.
“Agricultural schools, although of modern date, have nevertheless been
established in most of the states of Europe, and their utility has been
fully demonstrated. Who has not heard of the school of Fellenburgh, at
Hoffwyl, or of Von Thayer, at Moegelin—to which young men are sent from
every part of Europe, and even from America? In France and Prussia,
agricultural schools have been founded and maintained by the
governments. If they are found to be beneficial, and worthy of
governmental support, in countries where power is vested in the few, how
much more salutary must they prove here—where our institutions receive
the impress of their character from the many, and where the perpetuity
of these institutions depends emphatically upon the intelligence and
virtue of the agricultural population. Despotism will never flourish in
American soil, but through the ignorance, and, we may say, consequent
depravity of its cultivators.
“Your committee recall to recollection, with feelings of pride, the
munificent benefactions of the Legislature, to advance the literary
character of our State; and the fact, that comparatively nothing has
been done, legislatively, to improve our agriculture, which employs
five-sixths of our population, can be ascribed to the fact, that nothing
has been asked for—nothing thought of. Our public colleges and
academies, for literary instruction, are numerous and respectable. They
meet our eye in almost every village. But where are our public schools
of labour? Where is the head taught to help the hands, in the business
which _creates_ wealth, and which is the grand source of individual and
national prosperity and happiness? Our literary and professional schools
have been reared up and sustained by the expenditure of more than two
millions of dollars from the public treasury, and they continue to share
liberally of the public bounty. It will not, however, be denied, that
the benefits which they dispense are altogether partial,—that the rank
and file of society, destined by heaven to become the conservators of
civil liberty, are virtually denied a participation in the science and
knowledge,—in the means of improvement and of happiness which they are
calculated to dispense. Is it not a mandate of duty, then, as well as of
expediency, that the benefits of public instruction should be more
generally dispensed?
“We hazard not the fear of contradiction in assuming, that if a moiety
of public moneys, which have been appropriated to literary schools, had
been judiciously applied, in rendering science subservient to the arts,
and in diffusing the higher branches among the labouring classes, the
public benefits from the appropriation would have been far greater than
they are at the present day. How many hundreds may now be pointed out,
of liberal education, who are mere ciphers in society, for want of the
_early habits of application and labour_, which it is the object of the
proposed school to form and infix! And how many, for want of these
habits, have been prematurely lost to their friends, and to a purpose of
usefulness for which man seems wisely to have been created—that of doing
good to his fellows.
“From a full conviction that the interests of the State not only
warrant, but require, an appropriation of public moneys to this object,
your committee beg leave to recommend to the consideration of the
Society the following resolution:
“_Resolved_, That a respectful memorial be presented to the Legislature,
in behalf of this Society, and of the great interest which it
represents, praying that suitable provision may be made by law, for
establishing a school of agriculture, on the plan recommended in the
preceding report; and that the co-operation, in this application, of
societies and individuals friendly to the object of the petition, be
respectfully solicited.”
The report is attributed to Mr Jesse Buel, and is a document creditable
to its author and the society which adopted it. It advocates mental
cultivation of farmers, as the best means of improving agriculture, and
youth as the seedtime of an abundant harvest of human knowledge.
Whatever diversity of opinion may exist in rural matters, every
individual who has reflected on the subject, will admit the mind of the
farmer is the chief implement of husbandry on which the agricultural
system depends, and by which its advancement can be best effected. Man
is the principal animal connected with the farm, and the amelioration of
his mind more important than the improvement of brute formation. Mr Buel
knows well the strength of prejudice existing amongst farmers, the
results of their isolated situation, and that youth is generally the
only season when new impressions can be made and acted on. In advanced
agriculture, the mind will guide the hands as well as all farm
machinery, and science and art become blended together in the relation
and loveliness of conjugal unity. Mental illumination of farmers is not
merely calculated to advance agriculture, but to enable them to see, in
their professional pursuits, the means of serving their
fellow-creatures, and the exhaustless bounty of God.
New York is justly considered the leading state of the Union, being
celebrated for prison discipline, extensive canaling, common schools,
and if Mr Buel’s vigour is spared for a few years, it is also likely to
be distinguished for its agricultural institution.
The United States possess great advantages, from being new or young
countries, in which no class have exclusive privileges, and where the
selfishness and prejudices of classes are seldom manifested. The
inhabitants are a mixture of all nations, or the descendants of such, in
which the fetters of old customs have been loosened perhaps by
collision, and, in measures of general utility, they can at once adopt
the wisdom of antiquity without its folly. Many of their public
institutions are illustrative of this as well as Mr Buel’s report.
How different is Britain and Ireland from the state of New York, where
the “tillers of the soil” are regarded as the most patriotic class,
holding the balance of political power, and alike ready in repelling
foes and restraining profligate politicians. In former ages the
cultivators of British soil were considered mere vassals, and termed
villains. At present they are lightly esteemed by those who chiefly reap
the benefit of their exertions; and although this is the age when the
schoolmaster is said to be abroad, judicious steps have not been taken
to improve their condition.
Agricultural societies are to be found in almost every county in
Britain, but their proceedings seldom directly embrace the improvement
of the moral condition of humanity. Indeed their proceedings have
sometimes an opposite tendency, by seeking to maintain monopolies and
duties on foreign produce, which cripple trade, curtail the field of
industry, and enhance the necessaries of life, from all of which
wretchedness and vice flow. But the population actively engaged in
agriculture are also little cared for, and their condition seems
declining comparatively with other classes. Such institutions too much
overlook youth and moral agency in improving agriculture, and spend much
of their funds and time on minor objects.
In making these observations on the agricultural societies of Britain, I
am aware of some exceptions. The Liverpool society is a good
institution, and a manufacturing district is the situation where an
efficient society might be expected in Britain, as furnishing members
liberal in mind, and comparatively free from agricultural prejudice.
The Highland Society of Scotland is also a good institution; its ample
funds accomplishing much for the benefit of the country by giving
premiums; but more advantage would result from their application in the
improvement of youth, and in cultivating an experimental farm something
analogous to what Mr Buel recommends. Edinburgh would form an excellent
situation for such, where there is already a University Professor of
Agriculture. An experimental farm of sufficient size would furnish
better results from systematic procedure and continued registration,
than the efforts of isolated individuals. With such an institution, sons
of landed proprietors might be instructed in the science and art of
farming, and the management of property. Stock and seeds might be
experimented with and improved; and by the sale of them the institution
would support itself.
CHAPTER X.
_Journey to Geneva—Schenectady—Question Asking—Stage
Driver—Valley of Mohawk—Agricultural Duties— Utica—Attention
to Females—Marcellus—Skeneatiles—Cayuga Bridge—Dinner
Party—Dumfries-shire Farmer—Sheep Husbandry—Condition of
Animals—Farms—Geneva._
We left Albany in the morning, and breakfasted at Schenectady, which
contains about 5000 inhabitants, and from its situation on the Mohawk,
the union of the Erie Canal, and railway from Albany and Saratoga, it is
likely to rise in importance. From Schenectady we proceeded, by stage,
along the valley of the Mohawk, on the north side of the river, to
Utica, where we arrived about two in the morning, the state of the roads
being bad.
The temperature was unpleasantly warm throughout the day, and the stage
crowded with passengers, who were generally agreeable companions. One of
them, a gentleman in dress and manners, while conversing with my friend,
enquired what country he came from, and immediately apologized for so
doing. It is but justice to the people of America to say, this was the
first question put to either my friend or me evincing curiosity, and
considering conversation had been previously continued for hours, it was
not altogether inexcusable. Travellers from a foreign land generally ply
with questions the natives they come in contact with, and thereby lay
themselves open to questions in return.
The driver who carried us to Utica behaved improperly towards my friend,
regarding his luggage. He was a saucy fellow, and spouted what he
perhaps considered wit, and others insolence, with every person who
spoke to him. In fact, he was the only insolent driver I met with in the
United States, this class of men being generally civil and accommodating
to their passengers. He treated all travellers alike, and when told by
an American he had taken four hours to drive fifteen miles, answered it
was just an hour less than he intended to have taken. The drivers
receive no gratuity from passengers, and can only be acted on by
civility.
The state of the weather and stage-coach conveyance prevented our
enjoying the scenery of the valley of the Mohawk as I expected; and
after passing Little Falls, I exchanged places with a friend on the box
seat. The object appearing, when the sun was approaching the horizon,
was the German flats in the neighbourhood of the Herkeimer. But the
shortness of twilight soon shut the landscape from my sight, and the
brilliancy of the fire-fly alone remained to attract attention.
I again passed through this part of the valley of the Mohawk, in the end
of October following, when the weather was fine, in a canal packet,
which afforded a better opportunity of seeing the scenery than
travelling by stages, as on the former occasion. There is no part of
America which I visited so interesting as this valley, which happily
combines the beauties of nature with the comforts of man. The Mohawk is
a moderate sized stream, according to the conceptions of a Briton, and
wends its way gently through a valley, bounded by verdant hills, adorned
with an infinite variety of vegetable productions. The road and canal in
many places approach the verge of the river, where the scenery assumes
the boldest character, and the different objects around Little Falls
have few equals in any part of the world. The bottom of the valley
affords evidence of successful cultivation, and its beautiful sloping
sides are thickly covered with cattle and sheep browsing on the herbage.
The country around the Herkeimer, near which the West Canada creek joins
the Mohawk, as seen from the canal, is truly fertile, and the
inhabitants of the valley apparently wealthy and happy.
In New England States, I observed a few plants of a class known to
British farmers as wild mustard, chadlock, &c. &c., and which appears to
me _raphanus raphanustrum_, but not in such numbers as to injure the
crops.
On entering the State of New York, the _raphanus_ was common, and
methought I could distinguish the wild turnip from the stage-windows.
Between Schenectady and Little Falls, these weeds, in one or two
instances, were choking the crops. The wheat crops throughout the valley
of the Mohawk were good; the Indian corn had suffered severely from
frost and the overflowing of the river, which had, a few weeks before,
attained a most unusual height, and imparted a disagreeable appearance
to much of the land, which was little elevated above the river.
Utica is situated on the Erie canal, and is a handsome, thriving place,
containing about 10,000 inhabitants, and became a city in 1832. We
again, after a few hours’ rest, proceeded on our journey, and reached
Auburn, where we stopped for the night.
At Manlius we dined with a large party of travellers, who arrived by
different stages, and afforded several marked instances of cooing, which
the newly-married people of this country seem to indulge in. During this
day’s travelling, and on other occasions, the behaviour of such people
appeared, to our British notions, verging on indelicacy, and completely
at variance with the general opinion of English writers, who suppose
that the females of the United States are treated with neglect. Judging
from what, of this nature, came under my notice in different parts of
the country, I was led to think the American husbands attentive in the
highest degree, and some of the ladies absolutely spoiled by too much
attention. In almost every hotel chairs at the head of public tables are
reserved for ladies, and they invariably occupy the principal seats in
stage-coaches.
This day (21st June) the weather was warm, the thermometer in the stage,
which is open on each side to the free admission of air, indicating 82
degrees at five P.M. Fortunately, myself and two friends were the only
passengers after dinner, and we enjoyed a rapid drive through a fine
country; there being no regularity with regard to time, the speed of the
stages is often in the inverse ratio of the number of passengers. The
prospect from the village of Onondaga-hill, which has two churches, is
beautiful and extensive, embracing Onondaga lake and the villages of
Syracuse and Salina. Beyond Onondaga-hill is Marcellus, which reminded
me of the villages of New England, and is the prettiest place seen to
the west of Albany. A farther drive of six miles brought us to
Skeneatiles, situated at the foot of the lake bearing the same name,
which, unruffled by the wind, and gilded by the rays of the setting sun,
was sleeping in bright tranquillity. Skeneatiles is more beautiful than
Marcellus—contains about 1200 inhabitants, and every thing in the
village and neighbourhood indicates wealth and prosperity. At seven in
the evening we reached Auburn, the seat of a state-prison, where the
system of prison discipline, so justly celebrated, was first introduced.
Early next morning, the 22d June, we pursued our journey, passing over
Cayuga lake by a remarkable wooden bridge, upwards of a mile in length.
The lake is here very shallow. The bridge rests on posts, and was in a
dangerous state for want of repairs. A new bridge was being formed,
adjoining the old one, and seemingly of improved construction. Seneca
falls and Waterloo are thriving villages, through which we passed, and
reached Geneva in time for dinner. We stopped at the Franklin hotel,
kept by Mr Mann, a most obliging individual, and where we found a large
party, consisting chiefly of travellers. The table was well stored with
brandy, which, with exception of water, was the only liquid; and my
friend, who is well known for sobriety of character, drank more of it
than all the rest of the company put together.
Having letters to several people in Geneva, induced me to remain some
time. Next day we attended divine worship at a Dutch reform church, and
every thing which came under notice at Geneva, showed the Sabbath to be
observed with propriety. Monday, the 24th June, proved wet, and so cold,
that fires in the public rooms of the hotel were courted for their
warmth. The rain ceasing about noon, we walked after dinner round the
north end of the lake, to visit a farmer from Dumfries-shire, Scotland.
Mr J—— possesses strong natural parts, and is an instance of what
energetic and persevering industry is capable of accomplishing in this
country. On his first arrival he was very poor, and often employed
himself in carrying wheat for hire. One year he raised by his own labour
900 bushels of wheat, with only the assistance of a small boy in
harrowing, while he himself was engaged in sowing. His farm is now his
own property; and this season he has sixty acres in wheat, equal to any
crop of similar extent I ever examined. His system is to sow clover
amongst wheat, which affords good pasturage in autumn, and is fed off in
the following spring; the land is ploughed in the end of June, and after
an imperfect fallowing, sown with wheat in autumn. The Dutch farmers in
the neighbourhood also sow clover with the wheat crop, which in spring
is ploughed down for manure, without being fed off. This shows how much
nature does for the farmer,—one year providing manure, and in the next a
wheat crop. Skill might improve the system followed, but the period of
introducing advanced agriculture into the United States has not yet
arrived. Mr J—— applies fifty heaped Winchester bushels of lime to an
acre, which costs nine cents, or 4½d sterling, per bushel. Gypsum costs
fifteen cents per bushel, and is only used for clover and Indian corn.
This being the season of applying it to the latter, people were carrying
it in baskets, and putting a pinch on each hill or cluster of plants.
Half a bushel is sufficient for an acre, and imparts an improved
appearance to the crop in four days, except on black soft land, where it
has little effect.
Mr J—— feeds labourers on the best of fare, and finds no want of them at
any time. His wheat crop is cut with the cradle scythe at $1 a-day and
found, that is boarded—and two binders follow the cradler at 62½ cents.
Wheat is cradled at $1½ per acre, and grass at $⅝, labourers finding
themselves—and the work well done in both cases. Americans, Dutch,
English, Irish, and Scotch, he finds work equally well. All his crop,
including hay, is housed, and he considers a dollar per bushel a good
price for wheat.
A good many sheep were shown us, a mixture of Saxon and Merino blood,
which are not anointed with any kind of liquor or salve, and never
stricken with fly. They are kept in courts during winter, fed on hay,
and lamb betwixt 20th April and 20th May. Mr J——’s flock was in better
condition than any yet seen, though poor, and the lambs were
starvelings, compared with those reared in the cultivated parts of my
native district. He says his sheep seldom die, having only lost two out
of five hundred in the course of two years, and the mortality amongst
lambs was not much greater. The price of his ewes, when the lambs are
weaned, is $3, and that of two-year old wedders, $2 and $2½. Fleeces
weigh 3½lb., and his wool at present is worth 60 cents per lb.
We examined a large collection of wool belonging to Mr R——, which was of
fine quality. He told us one of his yearling wedders, weighing 29lb.
yielded 2lb. 9oz. of wool; and the small size of this sheep induced him
to think an acre of ground would yield as much fine wool as coarse. But
the data furnished by this animal are not satisfactory, as its wool and
carcass, in all probability, bore a different proportion in the
preceding autumn; since which, the latter may have decreased, and the
former increased. The carcass of a live wedder, weighing 29lb., must
have consisted only of bone and sinew; and the weight of wool, compared
with that of the sheep, may be held as evidence of wretched condition,
and not of superiority of wool-growing.
Mr J——’s cows were beautiful animals, and very fat. For some days past a
great improvement in the condition of cattle had been observed, arising,
perhaps, from better pastures, and the advance of the season. There was
also an obvious change in the inhabitants, having seen more corpulent
men since leaving Schenectady than in all our previous wanderings in
America.
Mr Stuart, in his “Three Years’ Residence in America,” remarks, there
are few lean animals; but observation leads me to a different
conclusion—cows, sheep, and pigs, taken collectively, being apparently
the leanest and most neglected creatures I ever saw in any country. The
condition of the horse is greatly superior to that of other animals, yet
many are met with on the Erie canal equal in wretchedness to the most
overwrought animal in Britain. Combining the price of the animal and of
food, the daily expense of a horse is much higher in Britain than in the
United States, while the wages of his driver are proportionally lower;
hence a poor, weak, lame horse may be an object of profit in the one
country long after he ceases to be so in the other, and the fatness of
the American horses is not owing to abundance of food in the country, or
humanity in the people.
We examined a farm within three quarters of a mile of Geneva, belonging
to Mr W——, consisting of 280 acres, 200 of which were cleared, fenced,
and subdivided, with good dwelling-house, two servants’ houses, suitable
offices, and a large productive orchard, for which he asked $35, or L.7,
5s. 10d. sterling per acre. The public burdens affecting the property
were eighteen days’ labour of a man yearly for road-making, and $2 for
school-tax. There is a flour-mill on an outlet of the lake, propelled by
an endless screw lying horizontally in the stream, which, for want of
fall, is unsuitable for any common machinery. A steam flour-mill had
been set a-going in the village a few days before our arrival.
Geneva is situated on the west side of lake Seneca, near its northern
extremity, commanding a view of the lake, which is the most beautiful
sheet of water in America. There is a college, four churches, a bank,
and other public buildings. The chief part of the village consists of a
square, and a street of neat villas running parallel to the lake, on
which a steam-boat plies daily to the extremity, distant thirty-five
miles.
CHAPTER XI.
_Journey from Geneva to Lewistown—Land offered for
Sale—Canandaigua—Genesee Country—Variations of
Temperature—Agricultural Notices—American and Scotch notions of
Reverted Wheat—Genesee Flats—Mr Wadesworth—Avon—Wood
Bridges—Girdling Trees—Falls of the Genesee—Rochester—Ridge
Road—Face of the Country._
We left Geneva in the morning by a stage-coach, and after travelling
through a country of clay soil, badly farmed, but bearing excellent
wheat crops, arrived at Canandaigua. Having a letter to a Scotch
gentleman residing there, I discovered him by his national appearance
when riding on the street. I was gratified at visiting him, and in
viewing his new house and fine garden, one of the rarest sights in
America. The necessity of proceeding with the object of my tour,
prevented me sharing his sincere hospitality, and I returned to
Blossom’s Hotel, and dined in an excellent room of large dimensions. In
the afternoon we walked four miles in the direction of Mills, to view
some lands for sale, and found the soil and wheat crops on the road
generally good. For fine cleared land $25 per acre was asked; and a
person accosted me on the road and offered his farm of 100 acres, and
his father’s of the same extent, with suitable offices, at $28 per acre.
Almost every farmer in the eastern States who has a family, or is in
straitened circumstances, is willing to sell his land and move to the
western States, where he can obtain soil of equal quality, and in a
finer climate, at a twentieth part of the price; and foreigners, who are
easily known, and supposed to be in search of land, are constantly asked
to purchase farms.
Canandaigua is situated near the outlet of the Lake of the same name,
which is navigated by a steam-boat. The principal street extends back on
rising ground nearly two miles, and consists of separate villas, as
white and clean as paint can make them, with green Venetian blinds,
situated at some distance from the street, and surrounded with
umbrageous vegetation, which at this warm season imparted an appearance
of coolness and luxury. Besides a garden in front, crowded with rose
bushes bearing a profusion of flowers, many villas have a considerable
extent of ground behind, capable of maintaining animals, and affording
every family convenience. The buildings and beauty of Canandaigua
surpass any place I have seen out of New England; and the wealth and
comfort of its inhabitants may be owing to its early erection and
situation in the Genesee country, the most celebrated wheat district in
America.
The Genesee country was sold by the State of Massachusetts to Messrs
Gorham and Phelps, who obtained 6,000,000 acres, at about eightpence
sterling per acre; but finding difficulty in fulfiling their bargain,
the land passed into other hands, and part of the country now belongs to
the Pulteney family of England.
We left Canandaigua by a stage-coach at three o’clock in the morning,
and suffered considerably from cold. When day dawned, a little after
four o’clock, my thermometer, exposed on the outside of the stage,
indicated 43°, and at Allanshill, on the outside of the hotel window,
45°. On different occasions I experienced inconvenience from variations
of temperature in America, which are greater and as frequent as those of
Britain. We reached the village of Genesee early in the forenoon, and
from the courts being then sitting, could not be received where the
stages stopped. The landlord and driver were not accommodating, but we
soon found a very attentive hotel-keeper in a different part of the
village.
The surface of the country, from Canandaigua to Genesee, is undulating
and picturesque, but ill cultivated. The wheat crops generally good, and
a considerable extent of ground preparing for fallow, by breaking up
grass land which had been depastured. In some cases, four oxen and a
horse were dragging a plough, a boy riding the horse in front, and a
driver to the oxen. In every case, a driver was employed with oxen, and
horses generally ridden by boys when in the plough, which, I supposed,
was owing to their being little accustomed to this kind of labour.
I had observed the wheat crops of America abounding with a species of
grass passing by the name of chess, which I imagine to be the _Bromus
secalinus_ of botanists, and which I have seen in the wheat crops of
Surrey, England, and south of Ireland. A passenger between Canandaigua
and Genesee, stated, that chess was reverted wheat, and originated from
an inclement season, or bad seed, an opinion which I found pretty
general in the States and Canada. This doctrine was made known to me by
letters in the Genesee Farmers’ newspaper, published at Rochester,
numbers of which I received in Scotland, but it is so different to my
observation and reflection, that I told the passenger, I would as soon
expect a horse to become a pig, as wheat chess. From extensive
observation in remote parts of America, I have not a doubt of chess
being indigenous to the soil, and hence its growth amongst wheat crops,
where the farmer did not sow its seeds.
Akin to the notion of wheat reverting to chess, is that of the same
grain changing to darnel (_Lolium temuluctum_), lately advanced in
Scotland, where the plant is provincially called sleepies. Botanists
assign original types for cultivated plants, but farmers seem not to be
agreed about that of wheat. Americans may arrange themselves on the side
of chess, Scotchmen that of darnel, without throwing light on the
subject. A plant cannot change from one species to another, or the
vegetable kingdom would pass into confusion. Wheat, chess, and darnel,
are distinct species.
Having heard much of the Genesee flats, I proceeded to call on their
owner, on arriving at Genesee. Mr Wadesworth had gone to a distant part
of the country, one of his sons being the only member of the family at
home, and who had rode out after breakfast. On calling a second time,
the young gentleman pointed out the way to the flats, where he said he
would join us in an hour afterwards.
The Genesee flats belonging to Mr Wadesworth, are rich alluvial soil,
ornamented with aged trees, deposited in groups and at intervals; and
perhaps no gentleman’s park in Britain equals them in fertility and
beauty. They differ from the rest of the surface in this part of the
country, by having been cleared by nature, and are chiefly in grass,
affording the richest pasturage I ever saw, with exception of some
fields in the neighbourhood of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. On
examining some parts which had never been subjected to the plough, red
and white clovers were particularly abundant, also timothy grass
(_Phleum pratense_), and several kinds of poea. Cocksfoot was less
common, and a few spikes of tall oat-like grass (_Holcus avenaceus_).
Rye-grass or yellow-flowering clovers were not visible. A field was
pointed out which had been mown for hay thirty-five successive years,
without top-dressing, and the grasses were still in vigour of growth,
interspersed with red clover nearly thirty inches high.
The young gentleman joined us on the flats, and pointed out every thing
deserving of notice. The sheep were a mixture of Merino and Saxon
breeds, and not fat looking. There was a fine short-horn bull, intended
to improve the dairy stock, which I did not see. This contemplated
improvement originated from perusing the writings of the Rev. Henry
Berry of England; and I took the liberty of advising the cross to be
tried on a small scale, believing the short-horns the worst milking
breed in Britain. This opinion was new to the gentleman, who said he
would keep it in view, and proceed cautiously in intermixing the breeds.
The grazing cattle were extremely numerous—four-year-olds, which had
been bought in spring, and kept on hay till the arrival of grass, on
which they are to be fatted. Mr Wadesworth intends to cultivate wheat
extensively; and one enclosure, as a beginning, was bearing an
indifferent crop. I have often observed wheat not succeed well on very
rich ground, and that, in Britain, the United States, and Canada, soils
which have been long under cultivation, yield the best crops of this
grain when properly managed. There was a variety of implements which
brought to recollection those at Holkham, Norfolk, England. Amongst
others, a mowing machine was exhibited and descanted on. We were shown a
fine oak-tree growing on the banks of the river, and said to be
twenty-four feet in circumference.
We passed the evening at the house of Mr Wadesworth, in agreeable and
instructive conversation with the young gentleman, whose acquirements
and intelligence were of a superior description. He expressed regret at
the necessity of leaving home next day, but offered to place at my
disposal his father’s carriage, horses, and driver, with introductory
letters to his friends in the neighbourhood, and said he himself would
show us the country on the day following. Time would not admit of
embracing the kind offer, and I notice this attention as creditable to a
person of the highest influence and station, on whose good offices I had
no claim. It has been my fortune to experience attention from eminent
agriculturists in all ranks of life in Britain, and while the heart must
be held as the seat of kindness, I can bear testimony to having found
true agricultural knowledge, distinguished from what is empirical,
connected with expansion of mind and liberality of sentiment.[1]
Footnote 1:
The following extract is from a letter addressed to me, and dated 26th
June, 1834.—“I called on Mr Wadesworth, Genesee. The eldest of the
brothers died last year, leaving landed property to the amount of
about a million and a half of dollars. The remaining brother, a man
about seventy, inherits it all. His family consists of two sons and a
daughter, the eldest of the sons was on his marriage jaunt.
Immediately after introduction I was placed on a good horse, and
directed down to the farm, of about 1200 acres, where I found your
friend amongst the cattle, without his coat, and I could not help
smiling as I contrasted him with our frivolous game-preserving lairds
at home. With a mind infinitely superior to most of them, and the most
unexceptionable manners, he considered it no disgrace to be actively
engaged in business. I found him agreeable and communicative.”
Next morning we left Genesee and passed through Avon, frequented for its
mineral springs, and beauty of situation. While the horses were
changing, we found many people indulging in copious draughts of water,
which I prevailed on my friend D—— to taste, when he amused the
bystanders by making a wry face, and exclaiming in a serious tone of
voice, “Do people really drink that for health?” We dined at a stage
house, and were much annoyed by a tipsy person whose impertinence called
for an exercise of patience. He was descended of Irish parents, said to
possess property, and seemingly an excellent customer to the bar-room.
On reaching Rochester, I remarked to the driver, that he seemed to be
traversing the same street twice in setting down passengers, and learned
that he was afraid to cross a certain bridge, through which one of his
horses fell a few days before and broke a leg. Few things in America
appear more striking to a Briton than the wretched state of the wooden
bridges, a material which he does not associate with strength or
durability. We took up our quarters at the Eagle tavern, the landlord of
which was attentive and accommodating.
The soil from Genesee to Rochester is chiefly clay, bearing excellent
wheat, and nineteen-twentieths of the land in crop was producing this
grain. I observed a good wheat crop amongst girdled oak-trees, in a
field of considerable extent. Girdling is effected by cutting a ring
through the bark round the tree, which does not again put forth leaves,
by which sun beams and air are admitted to plants on the surface of the
earth. This mode of improvement is only followed amongst oaks, the roots
of which strike perpendicularly into the earth, and consequently are
favourable to the progress of the plough; but the trees become more
obdurate, and girdling is only excusable in the first operations of a
new settler.
We lost no time in viewing the sights of Rochester, the chief of which
is the fall of the Genesee river, ninety-seven feet in height, and
celebrated by the ill-fated leap of Sam Patch in 1829. We enjoyed a walk
down the banks of the stream on a lovely evening, but the scenery in the
neighbourhood of the fall has been injured by the erection of machinery
propelled by the water. The flour mills are numerous, and on the most
extensive scale, said to be capable of manufacturing 12,000 bushels of
wheat in twenty-four hours. There is an arcade, extolled by the
inhabitants, but possessing no attractions to individuals who have seen
those of other countries. Rochester is one of the many places
illustrative of the growing wealth and population of the United States,
and which some English travellers ridicule for want of antiquity, on the
principle a withered old beau affects to despise the freshness and
elasticity of youth. The first settlement took place in 1812, and the
population is now estimated at about 14,000. The situation of the town,
communicating with Lake Erie, and the extensive waters to the west, by
means of the Erie canal, which is carried over the river in the middle
of the town by an aqueduct of free stone, 800 feet long—with Lake
Ontario by a railroad—with Montreal by the St Lawrence, and with New
York by the Hudson, together with its splendid water power, renders its
increase of wealth and population almost without limits.
Next morning we set out for Lewistown by way of Lockport, travelling on
what is termed the ridge-road, a natural formation extending round the
south end of Lake Ontario, at a distance of eight or ten miles from the
present waters, and nearly a hundred feet higher. It is from twenty-five
to fifty feet wide, fifteen to twenty feet above the surrounding
country, and composed of sand and gravel. The road is supposed to have
formed the margin of the lake at some remote period of the world, but I
had not sufficient opportunity to form an opinion on this point.
The country through which we travelled, after leaving Rochester, is more
recently settled than any yet seen, the fields being thickly covered
with black stumps overtopping the wheat crops; and the felling and
burning of trees was going on in all directions. The houses were mere
log-huts, and wanting in external comforts. The warm state of the
weather induced the inhabitants to throw open the doors and windows,
affording an opportunity of seeing the internal arrangements, and I can
testify to their well-stored tables and general neatness. The crops were
bad, and much of the soil so inferior as not likely to repay those
engaged in clearing it of timber.
After a fatiguing ride, we reached Lewistown, a thriving village, at
midnight, and found the bar-keeper and porter of the hotel intoxicated,
which was the only instance of the kind I met during my transatlantic
tour. By this time we had learned to take things as we found them, and
in a few minutes our baggage and selves were in bedrooms without
assistance.
CHAPTER XII.
_Niagara River and Falls—Carving—Entrance to Canada—Cavern beneath the
Falls—Rapids—City Building—Stage Passenger—General Brock’s
Monument—Letters—Maps—Queenstown and Niagara—Agricultural
Notices—King—Old Settlers—Disappointment with Canada._
Aware of being near the Niagara river, which connects Lake Erie with
Ontario, and which forms the St Lawrence, my first proceeding in the
morning was to obtain a sight of this stream, from the window. The sun
shone brightly, and displayed to advantage the white painted houses and
endless forest, but there was no feature indicating a river. On walking
a short distance from the hotel I unexpectedly found myself on the banks
of the Niagara, moving in the midst of a flat country, betwixt low
woodless banks void of beauty. On the opposite side lay Upper Canada;
the village of Queenstown was seen in the distance, over which Sir Isaac
Brock’s monument was towering. I looked on the scene with feelings of a
British subject, and, with a thousand associations rushing on my mind,
anticipated new enjoyment from mingling with the inhabitants.
After breakfast we were seated in a stage on the way to the Falls of
Niagara, winding up a steep hill, corresponding with elevated ground on
the Canada side, called the heights of Queenstown. From the summit, the
passengers expatiated on the extent and beauty of the prospect, but
being unfortunately seated between two stout individuals, I was deprived
of seeing objects at a distance. I could, however, perceive that the
banks of the river, along which we travelled, underwent a change on
reaching the height, being rocky, precipitous, and deep. It is
conjectured, and appearances support the theory, that the cataract of
Niagara once poured its torrents over this spot, and that it has receded
to its present position, seven miles distant, by the gradual wearing of
the rock. The soil from Lewistown, along the river, is inferior, bearing
bad crops.
On reaching the village of Manchester, situated on the rapids of the
river, we instantly sallied forth to view the Falls of Niagara, which I
had long considered the most wonderful sight in the world. A remarkable
and fragile-looking bridge leads across the rapids to Goat island, and
we soon stood on what is termed the American falls, formed by that part
of the river passing on the south side of the island.
I know not whether it was owing to unreasonable expectations, or the
magnitude and sublimity of the object, that I felt disappointed on first
viewing the falls. Instead of being riveted to the spot in breathless
agitation, and soul-thrilling delight, a feeling of uneasiness stole
over me, from which I sought relief by culling a variety of plants from
the edge of the cataract. But every sight afforded additional pleasure,
and hours flitted away in gazing on their endless beauties.
On returning to the hotel, a large and good establishment, numerous
visitors of the falls had assembled for dinner, to which they did
justice, thinking, perhaps, the grosser senses entitled in turn to
gratification. Guests are not expected to carve, waiters either doing
so, or carrying dishes to those wishing to help themselves. The numerous
company induced me to cut up a joint, and having served a dozen of
individuals, I was about to help myself, when the fragments were
expeditiously carried off and placed before a gentleman at the extremity
of the table. Amused at the way I had been treated, I resolved to
involve a companion in the disappointment, by asking him to help me to
mutton. He complied, and no other person was so honoured during his
tour. Foreigners may well be excused carving, their utmost exertions
being required to finish meals with the natives.
Immediately after dinner we set out for the Pavilion House, a celebrated
hotel in Canada, a porter conveying our luggage in a barrow to the
ferry, which we reached by descending a wooden spiral staircase. The
river is 1200 yards broad. The agitated state of the waters conveys an
idea of danger, and we were landed safely on the opposite beach in 14
minutes, having been drenched in crossing by the spray of the falls. Mr
D—— remained with the luggage, while we went in search of assistance to
transport it. Two men of colour were met carrying trunks to the ferry,
who brought ours on their return.
On the Canada side of the river, a wide road winds up the steep bank, at
the top of which were carriages of different descriptions, and people
walking to and fro. The ascent being long and difficult, afforded time
for observation. Banks, rocks, trees, carriages, and people, appeared
like those I had been accustomed to of late, and no important object
indicated a change of territory. But characters of countries and
individuals may sometimes be learned from trifles. On walking up the
banks of the river, an elevated board attracted notice, containing the
following inscription:—“All persons found on these grounds will be
prosecuted.” This was so unlike any thing I had seen in the States, that
it impressed me with an idea I had left the land of liberality, if not
of liberty, and recalled associations connected with notice-boards of
Scotland regarding steel-traps, spring-guns, and prosecutions according
to law, which deface the country, and exhibit the characters of those
who erect them.
The banks of the Niagara from the ferry to the Pavilion is the loveliest
and most interesting portion of the globe. At the point where the
footpath diverges is the Table rock, affording the best view of the
Horse-shoe fall, one of the most splendid earthly objects the eye of man
can behold. We reached the hotel in time for tea. Our bedroom windows
overlooked the cataract, whose murmurings soon lulled us to repose.
Next morning, when the sun was peeping above the horizon, and ere the
vapour had melted before his rays, we were at the Table rock, gazing
with increased pleasure at the Horse-shoe fall, preparatory to entering
the cavern below it. In a small shanty we changed our clothes for
sailcloth dresses kept for visitors, and, laughing at our grotesque
appearance, descended a spiral stair to the level of the river. The
guide led the way, and after a considerable battering of spray and wind
in passing the verge of the cataract, the interior of the cave was
comparatively serene. We penetrated 153 feet to the Termination rock,
where we conversed without difficulty, in a peculiar greenish light, the
sun being distinctly visible through the falling sheet of water. The
pathway is strewed with loose stones—the debris of the falling rock—and
unpleasantly narrow. The guide seemed impatient to regain the outside,
and I experienced no difficulty in breathing, or uneasiness of any kind.
Next day I repeated my visit, when the spray and wind were much more
powerful. On this occasion, Mr C—— and I were preceded by three Yankee
youths, two of whom lost courage on encountering the spray, and nearly
overturned us in their hurried retreat. There is little danger in a
pilgrimage to the Termination rock, and nothing to affect the nerves of
an ordinary person, or to reward him, beyond the glory of having made
it, and enjoying the finest of shower-baths, formed by the spray of the
falling water.
The currents of air acting on the soft under stratum in the cave, is the
primary cause of the lime rock giving way, over which the water pours,
but how they should vary so much is not easily accounted for. At both
visits the external atmosphere was still, but I did not remark the
direction of the wind, or revolve the matter in my mind. Air mingled
with water will at all times pass over the cataract, and the current in
the cave may either proceed from the agitated water below being
incapable of containing the same quantity of air as that above, or from
wind passing through the falling sheet, as sunbeams do through glass.
At my first visit to the cave I lifted an eel about the centre, and
restored it to the water. A toad was near the falling sheet, in full
vigour of life, and on my second visit there was one near the same spot.
In the channel of the river, and amidst the thickest vapour, swallows
were whirling at all times, and occasionally seemed to pass within a few
inches of the surface of the most impetuous part of the Horse-shoe fall.
The suction and danger of the falls seem to have been exaggerated, and
the noise and terror said to be experienced on viewing them, either do
not exist, or my feelings were insensible to them.
At twilight of the evening of 1st July, I walked up the Niagara to
deliver an introductory letter, when I was so much gratified with a
sight of the rapids, that my friends accompanied me next night at the
same hour. No person who has not seen the rapids can form a just
estimate of the quantity and force of water descending the cataract.
When standing at the verge of the river, a hundred yards below the grist
mills, and looking up the stream, the most obtuse feelings cannot fail
of being touched with the spectacle. Such is the breadth and descent of
the river, that the water forms the visible horizon; and the mighty
stream, in waving folds, seems issuing from the firmament. The sun had
sunk to rest; the evening was soothingly still; the thin clouds of
vapour rising from the falls curled gracefully over Goat island, and
were lost in the distance. The agitated rapids formed a contrast with
the serene sky emblematical of troubled earth and calm heaven.
Conscious of my inability to do justice, in the way of description, to
the Falls of Niagara, when so many higher-gifted individuals have failed
in the attempt, the works of travellers must be consulted by those
interested in the matter. They will find descriptions, like the actual
falls, abounding in so many beauties, that readers, like visitors, may
select what is suited to their taste. Visitors, however, ought to
perambulate the banks of the river and islands in the neighbourhood of
the falls, and begin with the American or Canada side, according to
their temperament. As few seem capable of appreciating the magnificence
of the sight at first, it will generally be found the best policy to
begin with the American side, which affords opportunity of seeing both
falls; while the Horse-shoe and rapids from the Canadian side, the
sublimest objects of the scene, are reserved for the last.
Two rival companies have commenced building villas on the Canada side of
the Niagara, and in all probability will lead to the embellishment and
improvement of the banks in the vicinity of the falls. The period has
not yet, however, arrived for the population resorting to villas in
Canada for a few months in summer; and city building at the falls seems
as visionary an undertaking as could at present be entered into.
On the morning after our arrival at the Pavilion, we entered a stage for
the village of Niagara, formerly Newark, distant twenty miles, and found
a passenger railing at delay. His dialect marked him from the north of
Scotland; he could not be made to comprehend the distinction between the
rivers Niagara and St Lawrence, and amused us by some remarks on
different subjects. The beef of Canada, he said, was so tough that teeth
could not chew it; and on being reminded his might not now have so keen
an edge as when in Scotland, replied, there could be no great change on
them, as he came to this country last fall; but when in the old country
he only got beef once a-week on Sunday, here he had it three times
a-day. The road is full of interest, from recent historical events, and
was fringed with various kinds of fruit-trees, bending under an abundant
crop. On reaching the heights of Queenstown, five or six individuals
left the stage and went to the top of General Brock’s monument, erected
by the Government of Upper Canada to commemorate the services of that
officer, who fell in the moment of victory during the last war with the
States. The heights afford a sweet view of the junction of the Niagara
with lake Ontario, and the surrounding country; the monument commanding
a wider range of landscape, without diversifying the scene, and
certainly does not reward the labour of reaching the summit. The party
joined the stage at Queenstown, and soon reached Niagara, having
deposited a passenger at the steam-boat on the river before entering the
village.
My friend D—— found letters at the post-office of Niagara, but the like
fortune did not attend me, although our letters are said to have been
put into the same post-office in Scotland, and similarly directed. I did
not receive a letter from Britain while across the Atlantic, but my
communications regularly reached their destination in Scotland. The
post-office of the United States seems well conducted, but I experienced
proofs to the contrary with that of Canada.
Few countries are better provided with maps than the United States,
pocket ones being everywhere to be had, and the walls of hotels covered
with them and information regarding stages and routes. We could not
obtain a map of Canada, the booksellers of Niagara informing us a pocket
one of the country never had been published, and almost nothing could be
learned about mails and stages, which nearly placed us in the situation
of pursuing our route blindfold. Dining at the village, we returned to
the Pavilion in an extra, which corresponds to the post-chaise of
Britain; and I took an opportunity of delivering some letters by the
way. Queenstown and Niagara are mean dirty-looking villages, apparently
without trade, and very unlike the clean bustling places on the opposite
side of the river. The bar-rooms of the hotels we entered were filled
with swearing tipsy people, and the establishments badly conducted, from
the stage-coach to the presenting of butter; which, instead of being, as
in the States, hardened by means of ice, was an unclean liquid.
Between the falls and village of Niagara the soil is partly clay and
partly sand, both seemingly of indifferent quality, and bearing bad
crops. The farm-houses are untidy, and the fences look old and
dilapidated. No trace of recent improvement could be discovered, and the
state of agriculture seemed stationary.
I had a letter to Mr ——, whom I was requested to visit, as he had been
nearly half a century in Canada, and possessed some fine farms in the
neighbourhood of the falls. On enquiring at the landlord of the
Pavilion, if he knew any thing of the gentleman to whom the letter was
addressed, I learned he was a _little king_ in this part of the world,
with whom the landlord himself had served when a boy. Impressed with the
rank of the person, I asked if I might venture to breakfast with him
next morning. Yes, was the reply, you will be sure to get every thing of
the best. The import of my question being misunderstood, I was told it
was unnecessary to announce my visit beforehand. I requested an extra to
be in readiness to carry us to ——, and retired to rest, meditating on
the treat expected from walking over some of the finest farms in Canada,
in company with King ——. Next morning rain fell in torrents, which
detained us till after breakfast, when we travelled by the way of St
David’s, and at length the extra drew up at the door of a small wooden
cottage. No time was lost in delivering and reading the letters; and I
regretted to observe a restraint in the family, arising, perhaps, from
the extra, which probably was the only one that ever approached their
dwelling. When engaged in putting questions regarding farming, in
presence of father and son, the old gentleman said he would send for his
man Peter, as best qualified to answer me. Peter was from Stirlingshire,
Scotland—had been several years in the country, and possessed more
information and address than any of the _royal family_. He told me
farm-labourers receive $10 a-month when engaged by the year, with board.
In winter, labour can scarcely be obtained at $6 a-month, and boys
sometimes engage for their food. Canadians drink less spirits than they
did at one time, and they are not now served to labourers in the field.
King —— and Prince —— boasted of making their farm implements, which a
mechanic could have done at half the labour, and of treading out the
wheat crop with horses. The day continuing wet, prevented a walk over
the _dominions_, and we returned to the Pavilion in time for dinner, to
the expressed regret of Mr ——, who was as kind as possible; but a
prolonged stay might not have been agreeable to either party. The
interior of the house presented few marks of comfort, according to my
notions at the time, although after experience in Canada enables me to
say it was respectable in this view.
The old settlers are evidently the least enterprising class. Having come
to the country uncultivated themselves, and ever since living without
intercourse with the world, they seem content with the necessaries of
life, which are easily obtained. Their descendants imbibe the same
sentiments and habits; and before the first settled portions of Upper
Canada can be farther improved, the present farmers must either sell to
others of more enterprise, or another generation arise with new
opinions.
I could no longer conceal the disappointment experienced with Canada and
its inhabitants. The Pavilion House, so much praised by travellers,
lately purchased by a company, and puffed off by advertisements, was
greatly inferior to the hotels in the States. The manners and customs of
the people were essentially Yankee, with less intelligence, civility,
and sobriety. The houses and fences were inferior to those of any
district yet seen, and instead of the youthfulness and never-ceasing
activity of the States, there seemed the listless repose of doating age.
The brute creation partook of the change—horses, cattle, sheep, and
pigs, being inferior to those on the opposite side of the frontier. If
such was the state of things in Niagara district—the paradise of Upper
Canada—little could be expected from other parts of the province. My
friends, at first, seemed to regard my opinions as more the result of
prejudice than observation, but in a few days after, they drew a
contrast less favourable to Canada than I had done. No unprejudiced
traveller can spend a few hours on either side of the frontier line
without remarking the difference of the two countries, and as the
people, soil, and climate, were originally alike, the circumstances in
which the inhabitants have been placed must alone account for the
dissimilarity. If governments affect the state of countries, politicians
would do well to visit both sides of the river Niagara.
CHAPTER XIII.
_Baffled in reaching the Western States—Buffalo—4th of July—Oneida
Indians—Fort Erie—Early Marriages—David Baxter—Petersburgh—Separate
from Companions—Musquittoes—Settlers around Dunville—Earing of
Wheat—Dunville—Face of the Country—Notices of Nature—Breaking
Fruit-trees—Bar-room Group—Junction with Companions—Visit a New
Settler—Politicians—Hamilton—York._
As it was my intention to visit the Western States of the Union, my
friends agreed to accompany me round the north side of Lake Erie, and
cross over to Cleveland, proceeding down the Ohio canal and river,
passing north, through Illinois and Michigan, east by Upper and Lower
Canada, and to Britain by the St Lawrence. We could not get information
regarding roads or conveyances at the Pavilion, which we left in a stage
for Buffalo on the morning of the 3d July, to push our way in the best
manner we could, having forwarded our heavy luggage to York. The day
being fine, the drive was delightful up the banks of the Niagara; here a
broad smooth flowing stream, divided by islands, and a few feet below
the surrounding country. The river does not at any time overflow its
banks, seldom varying ten inches in depth, a peculiarity arising from
the lakes, through which the waters flow, acting as reservoirs. The soil
is clay of good quality, badly fenced, without indication of recent
improvements, and appearances did not bespeak wealth or industry in the
inhabitants. At the village of Waterloo, we crossed the river in a
four-horse ferry-boat, and after passing through a country of recently
cleared and inferior soil, reached the Eagle tavern at Buffalo in time
for dinner, served in a well-lighted room, 93 feet long, and crowded
with company.
Buffalo is situated in the extremity of Lake Erie, at the mouth of the
Erie canal, and is the depôt of commerce passing between the Eastern and
Western States. In 1814, the village was reduced to one house, having
been burned by the enemy. Now it contains many brick houses of large
size; and I was struck with the stores, or warehouses, at the wharf, and
the immense quantity of merchandise they contained. It is the chief port
on the lake for steam-boats—a daily line sailing for Detroit, one of
which, in course of the season, was said to have left the pier with 800
passengers on board. The Americans have fifteen steam-boats on the lake,
many of them of the largest size, and four are building. The British had
not one at this time—two small boats having been launched in course of
the season, were undergoing repair, after having made a trip or two.
American steamers do not touch at any port on the Canada side of Lake
Erie, with exception of Amherstburgh, on the river Detroit.
The 4th July is a holiday over the Union, being the anniversary of
American independence, and was ushered in at Buffalo with firing of
guns, and other demonstrations of joy. All was again quiet by breakfast
time; and a procession was to take place at noon. Approving of keeping
such a day in remembrance, as impressing the mind of youth with love of
liberty, I felt inclined to witness the proceedings, but the necessity
of continuing my journey induced me to abandon the idea.
After breakfast, we got on board a miserable steamer of eight horse
power, which landed us at Fort Erie in Canada. On the wharf at Buffalo
we saw a number of the Oneida tribe of Indians, on their way to
Greenbay, a branch of Lake Michigan. This tribe having sold their lands
in the state of New York, government was conveying them to their new
possessions. The poor creatures were standing in groups, dressed in
their best attire, and many young and old of both sexes stupified by
intoxication. I particularly remarked a grey-haired aged female, with a
countenance of the deepest suffering, bearing in her arms a child of
spurious origin. These descendants of the original owners of the soil
have been gradually deprived of their birthright; and although Greenbay
is 1000 miles from their old habitations, the white man in progress of
time will envy their new possessions, and the poor Indian will retire
still farther to the west, if drunkenness, and other vices acquired from
the whites, do not exterminate the race.
On landing at Fort Erie, consisting of four or five houses, I was
disappointed at finding that a gentleman, to whom I had a letter,
resided three miles from the fort, and that it was doubtful if we could
make our way round the south side of the lake, there being no regular
conveyance of any kind; but I flattered myself if we could reach
Gravelbay, at the mouth of the Welland canal, all difficulty would be
over; and after some little enquiry, we succeeded in engaging a farmer
to drive us there in his waggon.
I delivered letters, and dined at Fort Erie, where a pretty little miss,
when enquiring about her friends at Edinburgh, said her cousin, Mrs ——,
was old when married. On replying I did not think so, she added, “O
yes—quite old; she was six-and-twenty.” This lady’s opinion of marriage
was pretty well expressed, and I hope she may not be disappointed in her
own fate. The people of America marry early. When at Montreal, a couple
was pointed out, the lady being only thirteen years of age.
The waggon arrived soon after dinner, driven by its owner, Mr David
Baxter, so much improved by change of dress, that I had difficulty in
recognising him. He was son of a captain of militia, farmed 100 acres,
and owned 200 more in the London district, yet he readily left his
employment, and engaged to carry us nineteen miles for 8s. 6d. sterling.
The horses were excellent, and he said to them a thousand times, “Jim
and Jerry, go-a-long; bid you both; what-you-bout? wheel-away;” and
being good-humoured and intelligent, time passed pleasantly in the
waggon.
For eight or nine miles the shores of Lake Erie resembled the beach of
the sea. The country at some distance was wet and partly newly cleared;
the ridges eight or ten feet wide; crops, with exception of some
wheat-fields, indifferent, and included a considerable extent of peas.
Houses were mean; the inhabitants ragged and dirty. Cattle were small
and lean. Many pigs were pictures of starvation; and on the 5th July
their winter hair was hanging on them in matted masses, like the wool of
sheep. At dusk, we reached a few log-houses, called Petersburgh, on the
Welland canal, where we had one bed assigned to three of us, which was
occupied by two, the third reposing on a chest, with a great coat below,
and a cloak above him.
We rose at four o’clock next morning, and walked down the banks of the
canal to its junction with the lake, and some miles to the west, to see
a property for sale belonging to Mr ——, for which $10 per acre was
asked. After breakfast, we expected a waggon and a pair of horses to
take us to Dunville, but the waggon being engaged in carrying hay, a
small boat was provided to carry our luggage up the canal to the
junction of the feeder from the grand river, in hope of getting a
conveyance to Dunville. On learning the passage-boat was expected from,
instead of going to Dunville, my companions became angry, and announced
their intention of returning to Britain without loss of time, by way of
the St Lawrence, a piece of intelligence not altogether unexpected. The
luggage was the chief obstacle to our progress; and if it could have
been dispensed with, they might have been induced to persevere. It was
arranged that they should proceed down the canal to St Catherine’s, and
wait my arrival at Hamilton.
I proceeded on foot to Dunville, distant eighteen miles, dining on poor
fare at Marshville. On passing Cranberry-marsh, I was attacked by
musquittoes, which clustered chiefly behind my ears, and defended myself
for two hours by waving the branch of a tree in each hand, reaching my
destination after nightfall, having walked fifteen hours in course of
the day. My repose was disturbed by the nibbling of musquittoes; and on
rising at daybreak, I found vegetation most copiously covered with dew.
In the course of the day I visited settlers in the neighbourhood of
Dunville, resident from a few weeks to three years, and found them
leading lives of privation and hardship. In every instance, they were
cheerful and looking with confidence to futurity; but it was evident to
me they, generally, had entangled themselves with an extent of
possession far beyond their means of paying for, and at a price so much
beyond its real value, that accumulation of interest on the purchase
money would ultimately weigh down the utmost industry. I felt for their
situation; but the morning of first settlement shone so brightly, that
prognostics of a coming storm would have been disregarded, and
considered unkind. First crops on small clearances were half suffocated
for want of air, and what came under notice, satisfied me that a settler
in the forest, trusting alone to his own labour, will have difficulty in
raising sufficient food for a family during the first three years.
The wheat crop of Upper Canada is sown in autumn, termed fall in this
part of the world; that of the Lower Province in spring. I was informed
fall-wheat sown in spring does not put forth the ear until that time
twelve-months, while the wheat of Lower Canada produces a good crop in
August following; and in corroboration was shown, on the 7th July, a
crop of wheat just coming into ear of the spring wheat of the country,
while one from seed, brought from Roxburghshire, Scotland, sown under a
parity of circumstance, was only a few inches high, without indication
of shooting into ear. This appearing inexplicable, induced me to bring
home samples of fall and spring wheats, the plants from which were
destroyed at Mungoswells by hares. I found, however, plants from Scotch
wheat sown in the garden did not show a disposition to ear when sown in
the middle of May. The effects of climate on the non-earing of wheat
seems the same in Britain as in Upper Canada.
Dunville is situated on the Ouse, or Grand River, four miles from its
mouth, and where the feeder of the Welland canal branches off, by means
of a dam eight feet high. There are about twenty small wooden houses, a
grist and saw-mill. The river is navigable to the lake, and it is said
to be in contemplation to render it so as far as Brantford by means of
locks. Dunville may increase in progress of time; at present it stands
amidst stagnant waters, and is a perfect bull-frog and musquitto
nursery.
It was my intention to have walked up the river, and across the country
to Hamilton, but learning that a friend, whose dwelling I had passed,
resided near the Falls of Niagara, induced me to change my route. I left
Dunville at five in the morning, passing along the feeder and canal to
Port Robinson, and from thence by Lundyslane to my friend’s house.
The country at the junction of the Welland canal with Lake Erie is
little cleared, and few habitations or traces of cultivation are met
with on the banks or feeder. Many trees have perished, from stagnant
water, on the margins of the feeder, and impart a gloomy aspect to the
scene. Part of Cranberry-marsh is seen on the banks of the feeder; the
soil is peat-moss, thickly covered with stunted larch-trees, ten to
twenty feet high; and the water is yellow coloured, but not unpleasant
to the taste. A plough, drawn by four oxen, was turning over part of the
marsh bearing grass twenty inches in height, and five or six Irishmen
planting it with potatoes on 6th July. The country improved on
descending the canal, and the banks of the Chippeway were well cleared;
the soil is dry, and some good crops of wheat and grass were seen.
Cattle and sheep were in considerable numbers; the inhabitants seemed
wealthy, and resided in good houses.
When near Dunville I saw, for the first time, wood-pigeons and
humming-birds, also a few carrion crows and herons, similar to those of
Britain, and different kinds of hawks. On the south from the canal,
annual thistles and wild mustard were growing; and on the north bank of
the feeder red and white French willow, the latter having afterwards
been seen only in one situation.
After an agreeable visit my friends drove me to St Catherine’s next day,
to get the stage for Hamilton. On the way we met an Irish funeral,
accompanied by waggons filled with both sexes, who, on approaching,
descended, and broke immense branches from cherry-trees, loaded with
ripe fruit. The owner of the trees halloed to the depredators in vain,
and I felt indignant that they should composedly take the fruit, and
destroy the trees. I was told it is customary for the people of the
country to help themselves to peaches and other kinds of fruit in the
same way.
While waiting for the arrival of the coach, I strolled into the bar-room
of the hotel, which would be better named bear-room, and witnessed a
group deserving the pencil of Cruikshank to immortalize them. The
landlord, a little, spruce, talkative Yankee, was swinging in the chair,
with his legs on the table; another individual was sitting with his face
to the back of the chair, a third stretched at full length on the table;
and one occupied two chairs. The forms were adorned in a similar manner,
and there was only one person sitting in an upright position by the
wall, fast asleep, in a state of intoxication. The subject of discussion
was a riot on the 4th July, the anniversary of North American
independence. Some boys of the village were innocently firing guns in
the morning in rear of the hotel, with which they had no connexion. The
landlord being a Yankee, the firing was considered insulting to the
British government: a multitude assembled, broke the windows, and
attempted to set fire to the hotel. The mob was said to have been headed
by a justice of the peace. My friend, who drove me to St Catherine’s,
said a travelling trunk had been found open in a wood a short time ago,
in the Niagara district, containing a few articles marked with initials.
He owner was supposed to have been robbed and murdered, yet the
circumstance had passed unnoticed.
The stage arrived with one passenger, tipsy, who placed his head on one
side of the coach, with his feet out at the opposite one, and snored
loudly. Next stage the driver was intoxicated, and I began to ruminate
on the possibility of the horses participating in the common vice.
I reached Hamilton at one in the morning, and after a few hours’ sleep,
took my friends out of bed in another hotel. At separating on the banks
of the Welland canal they despaired of getting a conveyance to Port
Robinson, and accepted the offer of a farmer to accompany him to his
house on the Chippeway in the evening, and be taken in his waggon next
day to Hamilton. They were much pleased with the farmer and the country
which they travelled through.
On learning that a relation, who left Britain in March, was residing in
the neighbourhood, a waggon was obtained, in which we rode out to
breakfast. The waggons of America are light, uncovered, four-wheeled
carriages, used for carrying goods or human beings, and almost the only
vehicle in the country. We passed the Albion mills, situated in a
romantic glen, where a rock was pointed out, over which a young woman
threw herself some years before. Being deserted by a lover, her mind
gave way under the shock her feelings sustained, and the spot where she
sought relief from her sufferings will long remain associated with human
frailty, and the perfidy of man. The family with which my relative
resided were about to sit down to breakfast, and I tasted, for the first
time, mash, or Indian corn meal porridge. Mr C—— had only been ten days
on his farm, having judiciously purchased a moderate extent, including
live stock and growing crops. He converted what had been erected for a
barn into a tolerable dwelling-house; and, with sobriety and industry,
will have little difficulty in bringing up his family.
A gentleman of Hamilton, to whom I had a letter of introduction,
remarked, in course of conversation, he was a Whig at one time, and had
lately changed and opposed the mob, as there was no end to innovation. I
replied, most people do so after sharing the pickings of Tory
governments, not being aware at the time that he himself had lately
obtained a government situation worth L.300 a-year. A feeling of toryism
pervaded most people in the Canadas I came in contact with, more
especially those lately arrived from Britain. Whig and Radical in the
mother country, after becoming possessed of a few acres of forest in
Canada, seem to consider themselves part of the aristocracy, and speak
with horror of the people and liberality. Politicians are too seldom
influenced by patriotism and philanthropy; changing opinions as they do
garments, according to fashion and interest.
Hamilton is situated within half a mile of Lake Ontario, and at a short
distance from an elevated ridge passing round the head of the lake. The
houses are chiefly of wood, forming a broad street, resembling some of
the villages of the States. It is in the midst of a beautiful country,
and forms one of the cleanest and most desirable places of residence in
Canada.
From Hamilton we proceeded to York at 10 P. M. by the mail stage, the
evening being cold with bright moonshine, and the passengers walking up
and down hills in crossing several creeks to ease the horses. When
objects became visible by return of day, the country seemed partially
and recently cleared, and the inhabitants far from wealthy. The soil
clay and sand, the former yielding good wheat and grass; the latter
prevailed on approaching York, where we took up our residence at the
Ontario house.
York is situated on Lake Ontario, and is the seat of government of the
province from which it derives its chief importance. Steam-boats arrive
and depart almost hourly, and the inhabitants amount to about 8000. The
progress of American cities in newly settled districts seems to be
uniform;—at first mean wooden houses, which, as wealth increases,
gradually give way to better ones of the same material, and ultimately
to those of brick or stone,—clay for making the former being almost
everywhere to be had. The houses of the principal streets of York are
passing from wood to brick, and in no place, during my tour, did I see
more brick erections going forward.
CHAPTER XIV.
_Excursion to Lake Simcoe—Hope—David Willson—Meeting-house—Tenets of
the Children of Peace—Northumberland Farmer—Soil—Notices—Excursion
to Niagara—Scenery of Lake Ontario—Return to York._
Next day my friend D—— and I set out for Lake Simcoe by the Newmarket
stage, passing along a road called Younge street, a small part of which
was Macadamized, in the vicinity of York. At Richmond hill, our dinner
consisted of roast beef alone, so tough that my friend remarked the
animal must have died in the yoke from distress. Human teeth could make
little impression on it, and I satisfied hunger with bad bread and
water, thankful that keenness of appetite exceeded my nicety of palate.
At Newmarket we were disappointed at learning the steam-boat, passing
round Lake Simcoe once a-week, had left Holland-landing shortly before
our arrival, and there was no other possible mode of conveyance; I
therefore committed letters to people residing on the margin of the lake
to the post-office.
In the morning we were conveyed in a waggon round the neighbourhood of
Newmarket, our first stage being the village of Hope, known also by the
name of Davidstown, the residence of a religious sect called the
“Children of Peace,” founded by David Willson. It is upwards of four
miles from Newmarket, and consists of sixty or seventy houses scattered
up and down. Not finding Mr Willson at his house, where we saw his wife,
a thin yellow sickly looking person, we proceeded to the counting-room,
a fanciful building, which was open, and no one within. Mr Willson being
pointed out on the street, I introduced myself as a stranger anxious to
see his place of worship, to which he dryly assented. He asked if I
belonged to government, and on learning the object of my tour, and place
of residence, two men who accompanied him enquired anxiously about
Scotland, and the state of the working classes there. On entering the
building we took off our hats, placing them on a table, and were told we
might walk round the house.
The building is of wood, painted white externally, seventy feet high,
and consists of three stories. The first is sixty feet square, with a
door in the centre of each side, and three large windows on each side of
the door. On two sides there is a representation of the setting sun, and
the word “Armageddon” inscribed below. The second story is twenty-seven
feet square, with three windows on each side; and the third story nine
feet square, with one window on each side. The corners of each of the
stories are terminated by square lanterns, with gilded mountings, and
the termination of the building is a gilded ball of considerable size.
The interior was filled with wooden chairs placed round sixteen pillars,
in the centre of which is a square cabinet of black walnut, with a door
and windows on each side. There was a table in the centre of the cabinet
covered with black velvet, hung with crimson merino and fringe, on which
was deposited a Bible. On the four centre pillars were painted the words
“Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love;” and on the twelve others, I believe,
the names of the Apostles. The centre pillars seemed to support the
second story, and at the foot of each was a table covered with green
cloth. The house was without ornament, being painted fawn, green, and
white, and had not a pulpit or place for addressing an audience. It is
occupied only once in a month for collecting charity, contains 2952
panes of glass, and is lighted once a-year with 116 candles.
There was a cold suspicious reserve in Mr Willson’s manner, which
prevented me at first engaging him in conversation. After fruitless
attempts I remarked the temple was a handsome building, and he muttered
in satirical sounds, “we did not wish to raise a temple, it is only a
meeting-house.” I said the interior of the building was tastefully
finished, and asked if the design was his own,—when he repulsively
replied, “Did you ever see one like it?” On answering in the negative,
he said, with a great deal of self-complacency, “That is the work of the
mind.” I had now a key to his good graces, which was used, and he
conversed freely on a variety of subjects. I had a publication in my
pocket, entitled “Canada as it is,” wherein he was mentioned; and on
reading the particulars, he emphatically said, “Part is true—but
three-fourths are lies.” From seeing Mr Owen’s name in the book, he said
he had his writings, and asked how he got on in Scotland. I stated
shortly his late career, and he seemed pleased at hearing of the
breaking up of New Harmony.
David Willson seems about 65 years of age, and is a middle sized, square
built man, wearing his hair over his forehead, and squints considerably.
He reminded me of my early friend and preceptor, Edward Irving, but the
association, in all probability, arose more from semblance of character
than of feature. He was dressed in a short brown cloth jacket, white
linen trowsers, with a straw hat, all perhaps home-made. Originally from
the State of New York, he had resided thirty years in this country. The
number of his followers is unknown, but all offering themselves in
sincerity are accepted, as he dislikes sectarianism, and has no written
creed. He seems to act on Quaker principles, assisting the flock with
money and advice. The produce is sent to York market weekly in common,
yet individuals are left to guide themselves. There is a school for
teaching young women to be industrious, whether they join the sect or
not. Most people in the neighbourhood say the “Children of Peace” are
good people, but scandal has been busy with their leader.
On leaving Mr Willson he presented me with a small tract, which may be
regarded as the tenets of the family, to the following effect.
“MATTHEW, CHAPTER XXV. VERSE 34.
“_Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I
was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me
in; naked, and ye clothed me._”
“I make use of this text to explain the purposes of a building erected
at the small village of Hope, in the county of York, and province of
Upper Canada.—We who are distinguished from other worshippers, of our
country, by the name of Peace, which name we have given to our place
of worship, here insert singular purposes, not generally known to our
friends abroad; we esteem all such who are not our enemies; these
latter, in a literal sense, cannot be our brethren or our friends.
“The world is in a singular system to us, as we can be to them; that
is, that they are in a state of servitude to a set of Christian
priests, since Christ came to liberate the captives. The objector may
say, they are in no servitude on the classical plan, but what is
voluntary. I answer, a child should be directed in his choice, and a
disciple taught to pray. We confess the people are directed in their
choice, and invited to be baptized, join society, and partake of the
holy ordinances. If we may give the ancient names to the present
apostles, Peter saith come, for this is the way, and I can prove it by
scripture; Paul saith come, for I can condemn the very creed that
Peter approves, and justify mine own to an extreme. Now, we are of the
mind to leave the creeds of the Christian Apostles of this age (of
which they have no scant number) and take into a simple way, in which
there can be no dispute, and which, we think, will outwit the priests
of the Christian church to condemn. We take the words of Christ our
Saviour for truth, but to believe in all the contradictions of the
age, is to us impossible. Priests quarrel now for titles; the printers
print them, and sell them to the world, and make barter of priests’
disputes; and the clashing of creeds has become a popular trade, and
brings in a considerable wealth to the craftsmen that have set up
selling these tales from their refined presses, which makes religious
disputes and new occurrences subjects of detail.
“We publish these lines, and refuse for a considerable time to publish
any more. We give them gratis, because the Lord hath given to us; not
that which is the form of others, but of our own that we may rejoice
in his favours, and envy not. Our form or ceremony is not in
contradiction to any religious creed, and will therefore admit of no
dispute; and with us, we intend that religious arguments shall come to
a close.
“The Son of God hath plainly shown us how we shall gain admittance to
the blessed purposes of the creation, for this is the kingdom prepared
from the foundation of the world.
“We have built a house for the purpose of offering to God Israelite
fashion; we purpose to commence the last Saturday in October, at
twelve o’clock, and continue to offer to God for the purposes
contained in the text, once in the month throughout the year, and so
on successively until the year we die, leaving this example and
precept to our children always; this we perform without the direction
of a priest, or any officer in the church, for we are brethren.
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. Then he begins to justify, showing cause of mercy and of
favour; (and when the harvest is ripe, and the wheat shall be
gathered, and the tares burned;) I was hungry and ye gave me meat;
here is the power and glory of religion, here teaching comes to an
end. Can a priest preach to a man, when his heart is to do the deeds
justified of God? As a doctor to a man in good health, so is a literal
teacher to these. I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; various favours
continue from the human mind, throughout all the excellent deeds
contained in the text; the whole amount is this; Loving God, and the
salvation of the world. (We have no written creed, and therefore we
have no image to quarrel about, or literal rule to argue for, we are
against nobody, but for all.) The answer of these souls shall be this,
When saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee; or thirsty, and gave thee
drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in; or naked, and
clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto
you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me.
“I now leave the text, and turn to the practice of life, to show cause
for a change of system; and we are required to give a reason for the
hope that we possess. The priests are as despotic in their several
congregations, as the potentates of the age; not all, I should say. I
will say that all are above their brethren, and press subordination to
their written creed, or line of doctrine. If a stranger comes to him
of another creed, will he take him in as himself, or one of his
religious kinsfolk? No; like the Almighty setting bounds to the sea,
hereunto thou mayest come, but here thy freedom and thy liberty shall
be stayed. As for me, I am numbered with the impostors, and am so
contented with the name, I forgive all my accusers; but tell them how
they use their creed, brethren, who can equally prove themselves as
right as they are. How do we of the latter named class use each other?
I confess upon an equal plan. You sell each other’s failings for
money, through the means of the press, and electioneering converts by
public arguments, and send them round sea and land to proselyte the
world. And what are they when they are gained? We will impartially own
the good with the evil. It puts away some rough and profane language,
and some extreme immorality, a work glorious in its place. Do we not
teach them to pray? To an extreme, but not how to receive. Do we not
teach them the way to embrace society? Yes, a hundred ways. Christ
said, I am the way, and that way through preaching is perhaps divided
into a hundred parts; the number of sects in the Christian name, I
know not; but I know that priestcraft hath done this, and with us it
is coming to an end. It is not the one way, Christ the hope of glory,
that hath divided the whole world, and produced vain argument to such
an unlimited degree as it is now extended, from priest, pulpit, and
press, and it is chiefly sold to the poor inhabitants of the world.
And some extol themselves to be of high value, for they take shameful
sums for doctrine, and the divines are more extravagant than the
apothecaries. But a man cannot have soul or body mended now, but at
dear cost. In the days of Israel, productions of this kind were
cheaper, in the days of Christ, without money or price; a happy day
for poor souls when Christ preached the gospel to the poor, and healed
the sick without cost. The text suffers no man to go in distress, and
binds us to use lawyers, doctors, and priests well; when we see them
hungry, give them meat; if thirsty, drink; if naked, clothing; if they
are in a strange place, show friendship, take them in, they are our
brethren; if they are sick or imprisoned, go to them, they cannot come
to us; and as we use this part of the creation, so do by all other
classes, for they are our brethren; if we do it to the least of these
that hope for salvation in Christ, we do it unto him, for this hope is
the gift of God; and him that practises, doeth the will of God, the
same is my mother, my sister, and my brother. Do the sects use each
other as brethren, or doth not the priest use the common people, in
many instances, as his footstool? Amongst the liberal kind, they only
take the liberty of sect abusing sect, and priests liberally
quarrelling with each other, which hath been operating in penmanship,
ever since the dark ages of the world, that succeeded the apostles.
Can you tell me, contending priests, how many quarrels will make a
millennium? If you cannot, quarrel no more; for common people are
laughing at such barter as this; selling priests’ quarrels at the
printer’s office; dividing the world into unnumbered parts; and by
example and precept, inviting divided proselytes to follow you; this
is the practice of sects. But there is a practice between the priest
and his brethren I think worthy of note, for the information of those
more ignorant than ourselves in our home capacity, if it is possible
that any such there be.
“The priest gets on a stool or pulpit, and preaches over what is
already spoken, which is well done, and cannot be bettered. The
potters prepare men for this purpose, take them in, passive as clay,
and make of them what they will. It is far from me to speak against
learned men; but rather note a little of the principle by which
education is used. Literal education is no distinguishing mark of an
apostle, for or against the service of God. Why, then, are learned men
so highly extolled above their brethren, and sold at the highest price
at market, like the best beef? The son of God equalizes, and owns all
equally his brethren, that are for God and his righteousness. But some
classes are taught by these self-thinking superior qualities, that an
unlearned man should not be heard; if he comes to their house, the
sentence is this, Be off with the goats, on the left hand; ye are fit
for nothing, but to be convicted for ignorance; but ourselves for
learning and office, are worthy of thousands a-year for preaching
scripture creeds to the people. Poor people! little is obtained for
your money, for you are not taught that equalization is man’s right,
and that the poor are the heirs of the tribute in a Christian Church.
Christ united Jew and Samaritan, and remnants of every kind to
himself, and gave them the name of brethren; he is the pillar of a
glorious Millennium. And when priestcraft is fulfilled, and God hath
said it shall come no farther, it will come to pass. The priest is
heir of the big sum—other church officers of less, whether according
to their righteousness, what they do, or what proportion of learning
it takes to fulfil their respective offices, I do not know; but this I
know, the high priest first puts his head in the purse, for he is a
general of an army, and holds subordinate titles under him, like
military order, not equalizing his brother with himself, but a step
lower on the righteous stairs that reach from earth to heaven (like
Jacob’s ladder), he holds the chief power of putting in and putting
out of office—of calling one a sheep, and another a goat—taking in and
casting out of the church. This last prerogative descends quite down
to the foot of the stairs, and they have got the world divided indeed;
and one priest will call his neighbour’s sheep goats, and keep them on
his left hand, because his creed is not written in their foreheads.
But there is another dark class called sinners, and they are not fit
for any body’s building materials, and have no mark upon them but the
black mark, unworthy or uninformed. I belong to these, and I am
resolved never to wear a priest’s creed on my forehead; for if I do, I
am sure I will despise my neighbour or brother, and will not account
him equal with myself. I am on the goat side of the question—the
priests have put me there; but I mean to prove that such judges as
ours may be in error, for these that some call goats, others call
sheep. This judgment cannot be correct, and wants amendment. Christ
hath passed the sentence, and it needs no alteration, and the priests
need not preach any more about the matter.
“If men are generous, hospitable, and kind to all people in necessity,
the Son of God hath justified them; he hath taken away their selfish
and proud heart, and given them a generous one, equally wishing
salvation to all the world, dividing their crumbs equally to those
that stand in need. This is the glory of God, and power of religion.
Where is the priest’s office here? The Son of God saw it would come to
an end, when the hearers were preached or converted into the practice
of the text.
“We have built a house to sacrifice to God, feed the hungry, and
clothe the naked. Any stranger may come in and sacrifice with us,
without giving us money or price. It is for the various purposes of
God’s glory, the end of doctrine, and the perfection of the world. We
are not perfect; but the system adopted by us is justified of God in
Scripture, and draws the soul near unto God and Christ. It is beyond
all creeds and sectarian plans, and is with us the end of craft. We
lament the divisions of the world, and the pride of the people, the
superiority professed by priests, and the tribute paid to them.
Therefore, in adopting this plan, we expect to employ them no more.
“DAVID WILLSON.
“We now commence a building of a different structure, and for a
different purpose from the other. We hold that doctrine is good for
the soul, as the physician is for the sick; but the above-written
purpose is the end, when the soul is restored from selfish delights
and purposes, and prefers the will of God before his own, he is as the
patient healed. But this doth not constitute him to be an idle
creature the rest of his days. What shall he do? Do as the sick man
healed of God; devote his strength to praise, vocal and instrumental,
that the harp of David, and the hymn sung by the apostles, may be
united together. He shall not be idle with his hands, nor still with
his feet; he shall not be redeemed from hearing the widow cry, or her
offspring mourn; his eyes shall not be closed from seeing the hungry
naked soul; he will take his burden upon him, and lighten his grief;
he shall till the field, or improve the mechanic’s shop, and the widow
and the fatherless shall rejoice in the works of his hands; and his
soul shall rejoice before the Lord, because he shall dwell with
Christ; for he hath said unto this description of people, Come, ye are
blessed of God. This is riches indeed, of which we have reason to
believe that very few high-priests enjoy; for they bear away the
widow’s crumbs, and deprive their offspring of a garment. They are so
greedy and selfish, the world mourns under the burden of these
practices, and the very earth groans for relief.
“As for the purpose of our contemplated building, it is to prepare the
heart for such a mansion as we have already. And as for our public
friend, he is growing old, and seems hastily preparing to die, and he
has enabled us in the hand of God to see as we saw not, and to
liberate our hands from priests’ wages, lawyers’ fees, and the judge’s
sentence at court. He will give way for nothing but civil power; to
such we esteem him as a true subject, and not of the alien kind.
Church matters with him are voluntary; he is bound to none, and
refuses the control of creed or priest in the service of God. We
rejoice in his labours; they make glad the heart for the exhibiting of
such liberal and generous doctrines as hath so far liberated our hands
and feet from a kind of veiled Christian slavery. We build a house
where we intend they may be handed down after his death to our
children, and the succeeding ages of the world. We covet craftsmen no
more. Our adviser prefers his brethren before himself, and will not
enter the peaceable mansion with us where we sacrifice to God. He
saith he hath sacrificed his own interest, and received the liberal
abuse of the sects, and gave up his family to provide for themselves.
He tells us that the priest’s office is below ours, and that he, by
appointment, is not worthy of that title that is justified of God; for
you observe in the text, that a priest is not set above his
fellows—that justification belongeth to brethren, those that love God
and the salvation of the world. We cannot persuade his feet to enter
there. He saith his eyes are forbidden to see the quiet place, but his
children and his grandchildren may see it after him. He hath given us
exact orders to perform by, and put a new song in our lips. We esteem
him as a brother indeed, but he is not always used as such amongst us,
but that amounts to our shame, and not his. His works, we trust,
through the blessing of God, will speak for him for ever.
“We purpose not to open our present building but once in a month,
commencing the last Saturday in October, and so on in succession, as
time and God may permit. We refuse to open to every visitor. We are
not indebted to the public for money, nor Parliament for ground; and a
little dust on the floor from the feet, and a dry compliment for
turning the key, will not pay the cost of leaving our labour—the work
of our hands are for better purposes than these. If far distant
strangers should come unto us, we may open unto them, and all our
neighbours and friends once in a month. We think ourselves done with
the sectarian plan of worship—rather the principle than the plan. We
think that no priest can preach us to a better end than the purposes
of our present house, and that no doctrine can lead us to better
purposes than these. Therefore, we embrace our own, and set the
dividing plan, of converting into a hundred divisions, free, and give
this testimony to the world, that if our testimony in public doctrines
is unworthy, not to suffer them into your houses, for we do not covet
that yours should be offered unto us.
“Signed on behalf of the brethren by
“MURDOCH M‘LEOD.
“JOHN DOAN.
“EBENEZER DOAN.”
After perusing such a production, many will wonder at the number and
prosperity of David Willson’s flock, and the influence he has attained,
which results from shrewdness, and not genius.
On leaving Hope, we proceeded north to Lake Simcoe, and returned by
another road to Newmarket, being engaged to dine in the neighbourhood
with Mr H——, who once farmed in the north of England, and has been
several years in his present farm, which he rents. He manages 120 acres
of cleared land, free from stumps, and none of it in pasturage, with two
horses and two oxen. The potatoes and turnips were drilled, and howed in
good style. Cattle and sheep are fatted, and, in common with those in
almost all parts of America, get salt once a-week. Labourers can be had
at all times, getting $10 a-month in summer—$5 in winter. Thrashing with
the flail, one-ninth of the quantity; carriage, or teaming, from
Newmarket to York, 7½d., Halifax currency, per bushel.
Timber around Newmarket is of the largest size, and the expense of
obtaining the first wheat crop was stated by Mr H—— thus—
Purchase money of wood land, $ 3
Under bushing and chopping, 8
Logging, burning, and fencing, 8
Seed and harrowing, 3
Carting and harvesting, 2
Thrashing and teaming, 5
———
$29
Produce estimated at 25 bushels, at $1=$25
The country from York to Lake Simcoe is, generally, well cleared and
settled, the soil being chiefly loam, carrying excellent wheat crops,
and seems fitted for almost any kind of husbandry. It is difficult to
classify the soil around Newmarket, which seemed well fitted for turnip
growing, and such as would be considered of too soft a texture in the
place of my nativity, yet it was producing wheat crops, with stiff straw
and large ears. The farm-houses seem comfortable, and the stumps are
chiefly removed. The surface is undulating, and free from stagnant
water.
For the first time, we saw small flocks of wood-pigeons, collected after
the breeding season, and people shooting them.
The bar-room of the Newmarket hotel was filled with drunkards of the
lowest class, part of them in rags, and swearing in a disgusting manner.
Before the arrival of the coach which carried us to York, we examined a
large flour mill, and many samples of wheat it contained, not all of
fine quality, and partly much sprouted. There were handsome iron
ploughs, made by George Gray, Uddingstone, Ayrshire, Scotland, selling
at $30, while wooden ones, of Canadian make, were $18. I observed a lime
kiln, formed in a bank of clay, by excavation, without building
materials, and which seemed to have been used for some time.
Our luggage, which Mr Chrystler, the landlord of the Pavilion house at
Niagara falls, assured us had been despatched for York before we left
his house on the 3d July, had not reached its destination, and not
having received an answer to a letter written to him on the subject, I
resolved to enquire personally. Next morning I got on board the
steam-boat, King William the Fourth, for Niagara.
The scenery, when sailing up Lake Ontario, is uninteresting. Dark
coloured monotonous forests fringe the low shore, on which, at different
intervals, are the meanest habitations of civilized men; and now and
then a puny vessel, with dirty sails, appears in view. On approaching
Hamilton, the landscape is more varied from the heights and little lake,
twelve miles in circumference, on which the village is situated, and
divided from the main lake by a stripe of land eighty yards wide,
through which there is a canal lined with wood. When going through the
canal, the rope passing from the helm to the wheel in the forecastle,
where the pilot of all American steamers takes his station, gave way,
and the vessel narrowly escaped destruction. Six hours were spent in
landing and shipping merchandise at Hamilton on Sunday. Many of the
steerage passengers were tipsy, and some quarrelling. I walked into the
woods to escape the scene. The stillness of a Scotch Sabbath is better
appreciated after sojourning in a foreign land.
The steamer reached Niagara at ten o’clock. At four next morning I
proceeded in an extra to the falls, which were visited before breakfast.
Mr Chrystler assured me the luggage had been despatched as stated at the
time; and on my return I discovered it in the lobby of a hotel at the
village of Niagara, where it had arrived from the Pavilion house the
night before. At noon I got on board the daily steamer for York. The day
was so cold that people clothed themselves in great-coats in crossing
the lake, and many became sick from the agitation of the waters.
On 14th July I found some wheat crops near Niagara almost ripe, the
cherry-trees stript of fruit, and the graceful blossom of the sweet
chestnut fading.
CHAPTER XV.
_Journey from York to Coburg—Mail Waggon—Mr Somerville—Agricultural
Notices—Clay Kneading—Female Helps seating themselves
at Table—Port Hope—Coburg—Agricultural Notices—Fast
Eating—Excursion to Peterborough—School-fellow—Peterborough—Rice
Lake—Notices of Nature and Agriculture—Settlers—High Price of
Land—Injudicious Settlement—Bay of Quinte—Indian Settlement—Canada
Thistle—Kingston—Storekeepers and Store-pay—Grasshoppers—Lake of the
Thousand Isles—River St Lawrence._
My friend D—— and I left York at 5 P.M., on 16th July, by the Kingston
mail, an open waggon, drawn by two horses, and reached Windsor, a
distance of twenty-nine miles, at two in the morning. The roads were
worse than any yet travelled on, and a driver stopped two hours at a
hotel notwithstanding our anxiety to get him away.
The soil, for ten miles down the margin of the lake, is poor sand,
covered with pines, until passing some ridges, where there are good
farms; here night shut out the face of nature.
From Windsor, in the township of Whitby, we set out on foot, after
breakfast, to visit Mr W——, to whom we had a letter, and found him
suffering under ague at Mr Somerville’s. I was anxious to see Mr
Somerville, from having heard his letter, which appeared sometime before
in the _Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, censured by my
lately-imported countrymen, and his establishment and prospects
ridiculed. He received us kindly, and after walking over the farm, we
returned in time for an early dinner.
On entering the house it was necessary to go one by one, as the door
opened so as to close up the passage leading to the kitchen, through
which we entered to the sitting-room, where we dined. Both apartments
were small, clean, and crowded with old-country furniture. The house was
a log one, but a better was soon to be built. The dinner consisted of
fried pork, the standard dish of the country, eggs, new potatoes, and
pancakes. Homely as the fare may be considered, it has seldom been my
fate to rise from table more gratified with a repast, each dish being
excellent in its kind, and the entertainment seasoned with the good
sense, contentment, and manly feeling, of our host. Miss Somerville,
like all my countrywomen met in Canada, was active and in good spirits;
but her piano had remained untouched in the corner of the room since her
arrival in the country, the churn being now her favourite instrument.
Mr Somerville told me his letter was not written with a view to
publication, and it appeared in the Quarterly Journal without his
knowledge. Under these circumstances it would perhaps be unreasonable to
hold him responsible for its contents. Not having read the letter since
the time of publication, I cannot say if it is a just representation of
his situation, but I can testify to the good quality of his soil, which
he says no visitor ever examined minutely but myself. His pasture-grass
was truly excellent; wheat and oats of medium quality; potatoes and
Indian corn well cultivated, and promising crops. He had let twenty
acres of forest land to clear and fence, at $12 per acre, which he says
is the common cash price of the country. Labourers have difficulty in
getting employment during winter; and on the morning of our arrival Mr
Somerville engaged a first-rate hand for his aguish friend at $80 per
annum, and ordinary people may be had for $72; wages paid in cash. Boys
fit for farm work, and women servants, get $4 a-month. Farms in the
township, two-thirds cleared, with suitable buildings, may be had for
$12 cash, and $16 credit. Bricks are $5 per thousand.
The soil of Whitby is rich, and not much inferior to that around
Newmarket, being free loam, and occasionally approaching to sand. The
vegetable mould in Mr Somerville’s forest was five inches deep.
Immediately after dinner we joined a waggon, by appointment, on the
Coburg road, and by which we travelled to the Darlington hotel in the
village of Bowmanville, passing over a poor sandy soil, of which the
township of Darlington seems to consist.
On our journey we saw two oxen employed in walking round a pit, kneading
clay for brick-making, which appeared cruelty, and wasteful of animal
labour, the poor animals walking up to the bellies in mud, with erect
tails and extended tongues. The common mode of preparing clay being with
a tree drawn by a horse or ox round a pivot, the lopped branches
kneading the clay. An elm-tree, twenty feet in height, was growing from
the heart of one of rotten button-wood, ten feet from the ground. A
plantation of hops, in Whitby, was luxuriant and healthy.
On stepping out of the waggon at Bowmanville, we walked over a farm
which I had been requested to value for a friend, and we sprung a
woodcock in a wheat-field, a bird that is said to breed regularly in the
district. Woodpeckers, robins, and blackbirds, of the country, were
devouring cherries so greedily, that a gun was fired at them to little
purpose every five minutes. Two wrens were seen in Whitby similar to
those of Britain.
In the United States and Canada tea and coffee are not prepared or
poured out by travellers, but by the landlady or a female help. In no
part of the United States did a female help, at a hotel, seat herself
during meals; and I observed the practice only upon one occasion in a
private house. The maid-servant at Bowmanville seated herself during tea
in a corner of the room, and the like occurrence took place at Newmarket
during supper. In Britain servants stand while assisting at table, and
they also do so in Canada; the difference of attitude taking place when
their services are not required. For my own part, I would much rather
see a young waiting-maid seated, when not required, than standing
perhaps painfully erect; and, in many instances, when taking tea or
coffee, during my tour, I put it in the option of the helps to leave the
room, which they generally did. There seems no general rule for
attitude, as inferring respect. In some countries attendants almost
humble themselves in the dust in presence of employers, and in others
they are required to carry themselves erect.
We left Bowmanville at seven in the morning, by the mail-stage, which
had taken fourteen hours to come forty-three miles; and my friend left
my only thermometer at the door of the hotel. A few miles from Port Hope
our waggon was changed for a small neat coach, which we found an
agreeable alteration, and soon reached Coburg.
Port Hope is prettily situated near Lake Ontario, at the mouth of a
small stream, murmuring over a rocky bottom, and well calculated for
propelling machinery. There is a pier, and general appearances betoken
prosperity.
Coburg is also situated near Lake Ontario, and much larger and more
advanced than Port Hope. It has much trade with the country across Rice
Lake.
There is a considerable extent of cleared ground from Bowmanville to
Port Hope; the soil poor and ill managed. Near the latter it improves,
and towards Coburg are some good farm-houses and offices, around which
the fields are well cultivated and fenced.
Around Coburg the vegetable mould in the woods was three inches deep,
and the soil sandy loam. The greater part of the soil we have seen in
America is of soft texture, and easily laboured. Here we learned plough
irons are only repaired twice a-year. At Newmarket a plough was pointed
out, the irons of which had not been at the smithy since the previous
October, and were still in tolerable order. Mildew was seen on wheat at
Bowmanville and Coburg. A lime-kiln was preparing building-lime on the
shores of the lake, and stones of the same rock were quarried for
building.
We found the young men swallowing their food at the table of the hotel
as fast as those of Albany did. It is almost a universal practice in the
States and Canada to board men, such as clerks and shopmen, in hotels. A
large bell or horn is sounded half an hour before meals, and again when
served up. Hence the rush to table, and expeditious eating.
Next morning we set out in a waggon for Sully on Rice Lake, a steamer
carrying us across the lake and up the river Otanabee to Peterborough,
the head of navigation, where we found accommodation at Macfadden’s
hotel.
When about to sit down to breakfast, I was introduced to Colonel B——, a
Scotchman, who, when seated at table, stated he was from East Lothian.
Knowing almost every individual in the district, I said in a tone of
surprise, “Are you serious?” and scanned his features very closely.
Answering in the affirmative, I asked if his name was Robert, if he had
a brother, and immediately introduced myself as a class-fellow at the
school of Haddington in 1806, not having since met or perhaps heard of
each other. We talked over old stories, and I was delighted to find my
friend possessed of one of the neatest and most comfortable cottages in
the finest situation in Peterborough.
Peterborough is on the Otanabee, and likely to become a place of some
importance. At present there are a number of mean houses scattered over
a considerable extent of surface, and the population is stated at 1000
souls, although I would not have rated them near so high. It is said to
contain a number of military and naval half-pay officers of Britain, and
the society to be the most polished and aristocratic in Canada.
In the forenoon we walked up the left bank of the river to visit Mr T——,
whom we met by the way, accompanied by his lady, who continued her
journey on horseback, and he returned with us. In the evening we walked
up the river side, passing an excellent mill-site, on which grist and
saw-mills were being erected, until we reached a string of lakes,
through which the Otanabee flows. The road up the banks of the river was
just opening, the trees had not been felled the length of Mr T——’s, and
in our evening walk some parts of the tract could only be crossed by
leaping, like squirrels, from trunk to trunk of fallen trees. On one
occasion my friend D——’s feet slipped, and he fell on his face, with
both arms fixed in the mud.
We left Peterborough for Coburg on 22d July, by way of Rice Lake, and
remarked that two-thirds of the people seen on the road were tipsy. This
was a painful sight, which the heat of the weather did not soften or
justify.
Rice Lake takes its name from the quantity of rice floating on its
waters; it is surrounded by gentle rising banks, and contains several
small islands. The lake is formed by the waters of the Otanabee, which,
from the lake to within a short distance of Peterborough, forms an
uninteresting sail, being a dense forest on both sides, with three or
four log-huts in the course of sixteen miles. Above the rapids, at
Peterborough, the river runs with considerable impetuosity, the banks
become diversified, in size equalling the largest river in Britain, and
its water-power, if properly developed, of considerable magnitude.
The surface, from Coburg to Rice Lake, is highly undulating, and, if
cleared, would perhaps be picturesque; the soil gradually falling off,
becoming poor sand, with timber of inferior size, and all kinds of crops
bad. For miles, before reaching the lake, the road leads through thinly
scattered oak trees, called plaines, or oak openings, covered with
stunted underwood, with external indications of extreme sterility; but
farther experience enables me to say, the appearance of the plaines is
not owing to quality of soil, but to the herbage being annually burned.
To the west of the Otanabee, and on the banks of the lake, is a
considerable clearance formed by government for the Massagur tribe of
Indians, and called Indian Village, adjoining which is the residence of
Captain Anderson, prettily situated.
The soil of the small clearances on the Otanabee, above Peterborough is
not of very fine quality, and mingled with large stones, but seemed to
improve on receding from the river. On cleared ground there was scarcely
a plant of clover, or even of grass, with the exception of timothy, the
seed of which had been sown. At the time of visiting this district I was
inclined to think unfavourably of the soil from the want of clovers and
grasses, but extended observation convinced me this circumstance had no
connexion with the quality of soil, and would not operate unfavourably
against the prosperity of these plants when their seeds are sown.
Near the banks of the Otanabee, a dark-coloured caterpillar had devoured
some fields of timothy grass, with exception of the culms, and the
insect had extended its ravages partially to Indian corn and wheat, but
red clover was untouched, growing amongst timothy which had been
entirely consumed. I could learn nothing of its natural history; but its
attacks were said to have been felt in 1825; and accounts from distant
parts of the north spoke of its attacks this year as highly destructive.
While delayed at Sully I strolled into the forest, and, on the margin of
Rice Lake, found a solitary plant of red clover, having about fifty
flower-stalks from one root, measuring five feet in height, and neither
soil or situation seemed favourable to luxuriance. There were three
heads faded, which I collected, and afterwards lost to my regret. On the
plains there were many flowering plants and grasses, and I remarked
_triticum repens_, the thick-rooted couch-grass of Britain, which is
found over many parts of Canada. Gooseberries covered with strong
prickles, which soften as the fruit ripens; and black currants, with
prickly and unprickly fruit, were growing in the woods; and hazel loaded
with nuts on open places.
Wages of farm-labourers in the neighbourhood of Peterborough were stated
at $10 per month by the year, and at $12 in part of summer. A
respectable settler in Smithstown told me he had offered $115 in cash
per annum, to be paid when a crop was reaped from the labour. In all
cases produce or store pay seems to be given, unless by special
agreement to the contrary. Cash is a scarce commodity, and could not be
obtained for wheat at the present time.
In course of my short excursion I had seen some bush life of individuals
formerly moving in a higher grade than those on the Welland canal. The
general impression was not favourable, and after farther experience of
such life, many things appeared exceptionable. In particular, ardent
spirits were too frequently used, mingled it is true with water, which
perhaps did not mitigate their effects. A cask of spirits, with a crane,
often stood in the corner of the room, and Mr D——r informed me Mr —— had
a bee a few weeks before, which lasted two days, and at which eighty
gallons of spirits were consumed.
The Newcastle district has been a fashionable place of settlement of
late years, more especially around Peterborough; and I was soon aware of
the means taken to induce people to settle in it. Before leaving
Scotland I had seen a catalogue of a most extensive sale of land
_purporting_ to take place in course of summer, and which contained a
chart of the district in which the lands lay. The chart formed our only
map, and was studded with villages, &c. In particular, Gambletown was
marked on the chart with numerous houses, as if a place of considerable
size; and on sailing up the Otanabee, on which it is situated, I
expected a thriving village; but on stopping to obtain a supply of
firewood, what was my disappointment at only finding two log-huts, one
of which was unoccupied! Accounts of the value of land appear
exaggerated. Uncleared forest land had, it was said, been sold at some
distance from Peterborough at $8 per acre, and some people wished me to
believe all land bore a relative value. A gentleman estimated his
property at $20 per acre, while I was offered the adjoining back lot of
better soil at $6, and I have no doubt could have got it for $4 cash. A
property has been said to yield annually L.500, which is very near the
sum I valued it at in perpetuity after examination.
On the morning of the 23d we left Coburg for Carrying-place on the bay
of Quinte, which we reached before dusk, having passed over an
undulating surface, the soil of which, with exception of part near
Carrying-place, was sandy and stony. Crops of all kinds inferior. A
field of rye had been cradled, and one of wheat was sufficiently matured
for the operation. This line of road illustrated the evils arising from
want of knowledge of soils in new settlers. Much of the soil was drift
sand, and would not repay the expenses of cultivation, cheap as those in
Canada are. Several farms seemed to have been deserted after having been
some years occupied; and unacquaintance with land, and other parts of
the American continent, can alone account for human beings having wasted
their labour in clearing such unfruitful soil.
Next morning we left Carrying-place at four for Kingston, where we
arrived at nine P. M., having passed Trent, Belville, Sophiaburgh,
Hallowell, and Bath.
The bay of Quinte is a branch of Lake Ontario, and a sail on its waters
perhaps imparts as much pleasure as any in Canada. Numberless islands,
bays, and promontories of every size, shape, and aspect, together with
ever-varying shades of vegetation, delight the eye. In many places the
margins are low, but for miles, on both sides of Hallowell, the banks
are of considerable height, well clothed with wood and adorned with
houses. In the distance was an island with a considerable sized Indian
village, said to contain 600 souls. The white-washed cots had a fine
effect in passing down the bay, while the inhabitants fishing in their
fragile canoes, and gliding to and fro on the unruffled waters, added
interest to the scene. On the mainland, opposite to the island, is an
Indian reserve, on which is a church, lonely situated near the margin of
the bay, and very unlike the worshipping places of more civilized men.
But the half-naked Indian, in recesses of the forest, may offer homage
to the Author of the Universe, with as much sincerity and hope of
acceptance, as the purple-clad in the glittering temples of the city.
The shores of the bay of Quinte have long been settled, and a
considerable extent of surface freed of wood. Wheat appeared nearly
ripe, and in a few instances cradling had commenced. Crops were inferior
and crowded with thistles, apparently the common perennial way-thistle
of Britain. My friend D—— and I, walking on deck, remarked a field
bearing a dense-looking crop with purple coloured flowers, which one
pronounced clover, the other pease, but on nearer approach it was seen
to be pasturage intermixed with thistles. This was an unfortunate
mistake for those having some pretensions to a knowledge of practical
agriculture, and perhaps the thistle-grower may esteem our discernment
as lightly as we do his management. This species of thistle is known in
the States by the name of the Canada thistle, and some proposals have
been made in the State of New York, to legislate to prevent its
increase.
Kingston is finely situated on a bay of Lake Ontario, over which there
is an excellent wooden bridge, perhaps the best in America, connecting
the town with the fort and naval yard. Most of the houses are of stone
or brick, and the inhabitants estimated at 6000 souls. It enjoys a
considerable trade, which is likely to be greatly augmented by the
opening of the Rideau canal, which here enters the lake.
We examined the barracks, most substantial erections, also the fort and
naval yard; the former is renewing with the best materials; the vessels
in the docks are hastening to decay. Regarding war in every case an
evil, and its engines too often misapplied, the rotting vessels excited
more pleasing ideas than the rising fort.
We learned masons employed at the fort got $1 a-day, without finding or
board; and in town considerably more, when store pay is given. One
gentleman said he would rather give $120 store-pay than $100 cash; and a
workman said he preferred $9 cash to $12 store-pay. I could not learn
that employer and storekeeper unite for the purpose of plundering
workmen. At present storekeepers constitute the most wealthy and
powerful class in the community, landowners and workmen being generally
indebted to them, hence enormous profits. The common per centage on
retailing provisions at Kingston, being stated at 70 per cent, dry goods
100. Potash sells at Montreal for L.24 a-ton; the farmer at Kingston
gets L.17 store-pay, equal to L.12 cash.
In the neighbourhood of Kingston grasshoppers were numerous, many of
them having wings, and flying a considerable distance. This insect is
numerous throughout America, and sometimes seriously injures grass
crops. As cultivation extends, its numbers are likely to decrease.
Having perambulated Kingston and the surrounding country, the soil of
which was inferior, with limestone everywhere protruding, we got on
board a steam-boat for Prescott, where we arrived at midnight, and again
sailed for Longsault in the Iroquois steamer, a light vessel with
paddles in the stern, built for navigating the rapids of the St
Lawrence, and which has been found to answer well. From Longsault we
passed to Cornwall by a stage, and again by a steamer to Coteau-de-lac,
where we got into a stage to Cascades, and by steam to Lachine, and from
thence by land to Montreal.
On leaving Kingston I anticipated much pleasure in sailing through the
Lake of the Thousand Isles, which forms the passage of Lake Ontario into
the river St Lawrence, but the curtain of night fell before we had well
entered, and the light of the moon did not render objects distinct.
There was a pleasing novelty in the lake from the number of low islands
like tufts of vegetation sleeping on the surface, and glistening with
the fires of the wood-choppers. The moon’s shadow in the ripple of the
waters was particularly beautiful, and some hours might have been passed
pleasantly on deck but for a cold, damp atmosphere.
The St Lawrence being the first river of magnitude I had sailed on, my
preconceptions of its effects on the senses were quickly dispelled; the
objects on its level banks being indistinct and soon lost to the eye.
The associations suggested by the endless and ever-varying objects,
successively and vividly impressed on the mind’s eye in passing down a
river in Britain, are altogether wanting. Fertility, shelter, health,
and peaceful retirement, so dear to a Scottish farmer, and almost
invariably the attributes of the streamlets of his country, belong not
to the St Lawrence in this part of its course, where the low lying, and
in many places reed-growing, margins suggest pestilence and privation.
The immensity of fresh water hurrying towards the sea fills the mind
with wonder.
Around Cornwall, and more particularly from Coteau-du-Lac to the
Cascades, much excellent wheat was growing on clay soil formed into very
narrow ridges. Other crops were indifferent, and nearly choked with
perennial thistles. From Lachine to Montreal we observed many wild oats
(_Avena fatua_) for the first time in America.
CHAPTER XVI.
_Excursions around Montreal— Township of Hinchinbrooke—River
Chateauguay—Kinds of Houses—Bushmen and Farmers—Squatters—Price of
Land—Flag Staffs—Huntingdon—Isle Bourdeaux—Face of the
Country around Montreal—Farming of old Settlers—French
Canadians—Laprairie—Wheat Fly—Cheap Purchase—Chambly—Cheap
Education—Mistake Roads—Horse Ferry-boat—Starving Out—Mountain—Race
Course—State of Agriculture around Montreal—Montreal._
In the town of Montreal and its neighbourhood reside several old
friends, by whom we were kindly welcomed, and in whose company we
experienced so much pleasure, that I shall ever look back on the time
spent amongst them with delight. The town was soon explored, and became
the centre of several excursions to the adjoining country.
On the second day after our arrival we set out for the Township of
Hinchinbrooke, travelling by stage to Lachine; from thence by steam
across the St Lawrence into the river Chateauguay to the head of its
navigation, twelve miles from its mouth, where we got a stage to the
village of Huntingdon. We dined at a hotel kept by Mrs Love, and walked
up the banks of the river to the residence of Mr ——, whom we met by the
way. Next forenoon was spent in walking over the farm, and after dinner
we visited Mr ——, who arrived in the country a year ago, and who was
erecting a good stone house. Early next morning, Mr —— and I walked over
the country, crossing the river Hinchinbrooke, passing up Oak or Mud
creek, and down Trout river to the village of Huntingdon. Here we met,
by appointment, a party of friends, and examined a farm which Mr —— had
bought a few days before. Next day we travelled by stages and steam-boat
to Montreal.
During this excursion I experienced much pleasure at finding my friends
and former neighbours possessing so many more old country comforts than
the backwood settlers in Upper Canada, and all enjoying good health and
spirits. This is quite an East Lothian colony; four farmers who have
settled here dined with us, and there are blacksmiths, tailors, &c. &c.
without number in the village. The township of Hinchinbrooke is a
thriving settlement, and in point of climate perhaps the best in Lower
Canada.
The river Chateauguay is of small size, its banks have long been settled
by French Canadians, and for twenty miles above its navigable point is
almost a continued village, the mode of French settlement being to place
houses on each side of a road or street, with narrow parallel portions
of land attached to each, extending a mile or two back. The farms are
generally free of wood, and the banks of the river, consequently,
without beauty. Towards Huntingdon there are few French settlers, and
above the village the banks are wooded, and some good farms are seen.
Here the Chateauguay is joined by the Hinchinbrooke, Trout river, and
Oak creek, the banks of all of which are settled, and abound with good
situations.
The soil on the banks of the river occupied by the French is strong
clay, bearing alternately wheat and thistle pastures, with occasionally
a few oats, big peas, and potatoes. The houses are generally brick, and
a few are of stone. Boys were seen playing at cricket.
For several miles below Huntingdon the soil is very inferior, but
improves in the neighbourhood of the village. On the small streams above
the village the soil embraces every description of clay, loam, and sand.
This tract has been recently settled, chiefly by British emigrants, and
when the forest is subdued, likely to become valuable. Corn crops do not
occupy much extent of ground at present. Grass was in many situations
excellent, red and white clover abounding without having been sown. In
two instances I saw wheat crops which had been sown in autumn, and
neither were good; if such a crop succeeds any where in Lower Canada, it
must be in this district. The houses consist of wood, and are log,
block, or frame, according to the wealth or taste of the owner. A
log-house consists of rough logs or unbarked trees, piled above each
other, dove-tailed at the corners of the walls, and the intervals
betwixt the logs filled up with clay or other materials. A block-house
is composed of logs squared so as to class on each other. A frame-house
is sawn boards, nailed on a frame, with lath and plaster inside, and
corresponds with the wood barracks in Britain. There is another
description of frame-house in Upper Canada, which has slender lath on
the outside, simply rough-cast with lime and gravel, like stone houses
in Britain, with common lath and plaster inside. Houses have pitched
roofs, covered with thin pieces of wood, called shingles, resembling and
answering the purposes of slate. A shanty differs from a log-house only
in wanting a pitch roof, and having bark or hollow trees in place of
shingles.
During this excursion, the cause of bushmen or pioneers moving from
first settlements to more remote parts of the forest, became obvious.
The destruction of forest, and management of cleared land, are evidently
different departments, the latter requiring more capital, and a higher
degree of knowledge than pioneers generally possess; and in Canadian
farming, the wood-chopper and husbandmen stand to each other in relation
of mason and joiner in British house-building, the one forming a rude
outline, which the other polishes, and may be instanced as illustrative
of the advantages of a division of labour. In several instances I saw
families of first settlers possessing a considerable extent of excellent
cleared land, without the knowledge or means of rendering it productive,
and they certainly would benefit themselves by disposing of their
properties, and adopting another mode of life. Living almost in
idleness, they cultivated, in the most negligent manner, only so much
wheat and potatoes as was judged sufficient for home consumption,
relying on the hay crop for procuring what necessaries they did not
themselves produce, and appeared so encrusted with sloth, that they were
likely only to fire a gun with the view of obtaining food, and to cut
down a tree for the purpose of cooking it.
Amongst the numerous calls I made, was one on Trout river, at the house
of a Yankee squatter, who was from home. Mrs C—— was also a Yankee, a
good-looking buxom dame, with two or three young children, and a help of
small size. She spurned the idea of assisting her husband to cut down
his wheat crop, but said she would join him in eating it—never worked in
the fields herself, and her girls should not; men must work for her
girls, she did not think females were made for working. In all
probability she was the daughter of a wood-chopper.
Lands in the district of Hinchinbrooke are held by English tenure, and
sell moderately. A friend bought 200 acres last year, with a log and
frame-house, for L.270 currency. This year another bought 300 acres,
with 90 cleared, for L.327 currency. The inhabitants did not appear so
much addicted to ardent spirits as those of some parts in Upper Canada.
In passing up the Chateauguay, many flag-staffs or poles were observed,
which owe their origin to an old law, requiring captains of militia so
to distinguish their residences. My friend Mr ——, residing near the
frontier line, was appointed captain of militia some years ago, and
erected a pole in front of his house. In the States similar poles are
used for hotel sign-posts. The Yankees not being aware of this old
custom, used to call at my friend’s and ask for brandy, &c. He was much
annoyed by such visitors, and while deliberating one day on the mode of
restraining them, a spruce fellow walked into his parlour, and asked to
be shaved. The pole was instantly stretched on the ground.
The village of Huntingdon consists of 30 or 40 wood houses, with grist
and saw mills; paper, and hat manufactory, and a post office. There is a
school, and a church was soon to be erected.
On 2d August, Mr —— and I, in his gig, friend D——, with a driver and
hired calash, left Montreal, passing down the banks of the river, by
Long Point to Isle Bourdeaux, situated at the confluence of the St
Lawrence with the north channel of the Ottawa, which forms the Island of
Montreal. Isle Bourdeaux was understood to be for sale, and is one of
the most celebrated spots for situation and soil in the Lower Province.
Here a place was pointed out from which clay had been dug, and burned
for manure some years ago, and which failed, as in other parts of the
world.
After dinner, we crossed by the ferry to the opposite side of the
Ottawa, passing up the banks of the stream by Terre Bonne, and reached
St Therese in the morning. Early next day, we examined a property for
sale, and after breakfast proceeded in a northern direction twelve or
fourteen miles, and returned to St Therese. Here we changed our horses
for those brought with us the day before; and after crossing a branch of
the Ottawa by Porteous’ Bridge to the Isle of Jesus, and over a second
branch of that river to the Island of Montreal, we reached our
destination by six in the evening, having encountered several
thunder-storms in the course of the journey.
The face of the country on the banks of the Ottawa, in the neighbourhood
of Terre Bonne, St Therese, and from thence by St Rose and St Martin’s,
to Montreal, is truly beautiful, and the softness of the scenery is in
many places heightened by the small wooded islets, encompassed by the
smooth gliding branches of the Ottawa. The scenery increases in interest
on approaching the mountain over which the road passes by a kind of
glen, clothed with fruit and other trees. From the brow of the hill
passing to the south, the majestic St Lawrence, flowing in broad expanse
down Lachine rapids, bursts on the view, and the declivity of the
mountain, adorned with villas, and the city of Montreal lying at the
foot, with shining tin-roofed houses, giving it the appearance of a
distant camp, form a scene seldom equalled in America or any other part
of the world. The general aspect of the country from St Therese to
Montreal, closely resembles that of some of the finest parts of England.
The soil from Montreal to St Therese, a distance of nearly forty miles,
by the banks of the St Lawrence and Ottawa, is strong clay, and I do not
recollect of having travelled over the like extent of continuous good
wheat soil in any part of the world; but the management which it was
under is wretched in the extreme, although the crops in many parts were
good. Pasture and spring sown wheat succeed each other, year after year,
almost unaided by manures, with one ploughing previous to wheat sowing.
Clover seeds are never sown, yet cow grass and white clover everywhere
abound, and often attain the utmost luxuriance. Heaps of manure were
seen dissolving into earth on the way sides. Manure is, occasionally,
deposited thickly in heaps on pastures in the early part of summer,
where it remains to be spread by the cattle and pigs. When manure is
applied to the potato crop, which is very limited in extent, it is
spread on the surface after the crop is above ground. Cattle and sheep
are small, lean, miserable looking creatures, and their pastures as bare
as possible. Fully one-third of the sheep are black coloured, the wool
of which is useful in forming the grey cloth which almost the whole
French population wear, and saves the expense and trouble of dyeing.
Neither sheep nor cattle resemble any of the breeds I am acquainted
with, and in all probability both are descended from those of France.
The horses are small, and coarse-looking—mere ponies, though said to be
active and hardy. The fences are invariably post and rail. Wild oats
were particularly numerous in all crops.
The French Canadians, of the ordinary classes, almost invariably live in
block-houses, with large windows, and seem ill constructed, externally
and internally, for economizing heat, which the nature of the climate,
and scarcity of fuel, render so desirable. They have a clean appearance,
being often white-washed with lime, and the window-boards and roofs are
occasionally painted of different colours, and seldom harmonize with the
house. A tree or shrub is never found in their gardens, and an orchard,
except in the neighbourhood of the mountain, is almost unknown.
The wealthier French Canadians are ambitious of having stone-houses,
which are very awkward erections, and so ill built, that my friend D——
said the work looked as if it had been done by ploughmen between
yokings.
The inhabitants are rather under-sized, broad-shouldered, and
athletic-looking men, with swarthy complexions. They generally bowed to
us in passing, and the boys invariably did so. The little creatures had
a most grotesque appearance, decked in very broad-brimmed straw hats,
and a flowing shirt being their only covering.
Contemplating a tour into what are called the Eastern Townships, and
which have since become the scene of operations of a new land company, I
was obligingly furnished with instructions and letters by Mr R. A——, who
had passed through them a few weeks before, and on whose attentions I
had not the slightest claim. We arranged to leave Montreal by the mail
stage, on the afternoon of the 5th; but receiving a call from Mr ——,
whom I had met with in Scotland, and who once farmed in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, it was agreed that we should accompany him
to his residence on the opposite side of the St Lawrence, and be driven
in his waggon a considerable part of our route, next morning.
Accordingly, we crossed to Laprairie in a steamer, at ten A.M., and
proceeded on the road to St Philip’s three or four miles, till we
reached Mr ——’s residence.
Laprairie is a small mean-looking village, inhabited almost entirely by
French Canadians, and deriving its chief importance from being the
entrance and depôt of farm produce from the States to Montreal, and from
its inhabitants enjoying the privilege of an extensive grazing common,
which was part of the Jesuits’ confiscated property.
This part of the country differs from any we had yet visited inhabited
by French Canadians, having many single trees interspersed over the
surface, and a few on creek banks. The soil is invariably clay of the
strongest texture, in bad condition, and stands much in want of
draining.
In this neighbourhood I observed wheat ears exhibiting ravages of
wheat-fly, and on examination found many capsules filled with shrivelled
grains, or altogether empty. The maggots having left the ears and
descended to the earth, I was unable to determine whether this insect is
identical with the wheat-fly of Britain; but the collapsed state of the
chaff presented the same appearance as the crop in East-Lothian when
injured by fly, while spider-webs on the ears contained fragments of
flies resembling ichneumons. I was told the French inhabitants around St
Philip held meetings and processions a few days previous, for staying
the plague of worms in wheat ears, and I have no doubt they were
delighted with the apparent success of their measures; knowledge of the
habits of the insect would, however, have taught them the futility of
their attempts at so late a period of the season. The same insect caused
extensive injury in 1825.
After dinner, we walked with Mr ——, to call on his neighbour ——, who
once farmed in my native district, and whom we found engaged in
hay-making. He had lately bought a farm, subject to an annuity on the
lives of an old French Canadian and his wife. He was in good spirits,
and had lost none of the rotundity of form carried from Scotland.
Feeling a desire to examine a bull-frog, a reptile which abounds in a
pond in front of Mr ——’s house, I found them large, of a dirty green
colour, with a remarkably large mouth, and in formation similar to the
frog of Britain.
Mr ——’s farm is not of great extent, and, considering the excellency of
his dwelling-house, was a cheap purchase. In an enclosure in front of
the house, grew some hickory-trees, the nuts of which are held in esteem
by the population. The first year of his purchase, these trees bore a
great crop, while there was a failure of this nut generally; and he told
me the value of his nuts actually amounted to the interest of the whole
price of the estate.
Next morning, Mr ——, Miss ——, my friend and I, set out at five o’clock,
in a four-wheeled waggon, drawn by a strong little Canadian horse, and
arrived at Chambly in the midst of a thunderstorm and rain, which
detained us during the day, by rendering the roads impassable. The soil
in this part of the country is clay, of the most adhesive texture, and
the roads being without stone, the clay became so waxy after the rain,
as to remind me of bird-lime. Our horse would have had difficulty in
pulling the empty waggon along the road, and I found walking on foot a
very slow and arduous mode of proceeding.
The rain having abated, we walked out, after dinner, to view the village
of Chambly, which is situated on the river Richlieu, in a fine bay or
basin, three miles wide, and at the head of the navigation. At present
there is a canal forming, to connect the waters of Lake Champlain with
Chambly basin, and which is expected to be completed in course of next
year. The village contains several churches and mills, and is celebrated
for seminaries of education. Here young ladies are taught the French and
English languages grammatically, arithmetic, writing, and drawing, for
$5 a-month, or about 21s. sterling, finding themselves with books,
bed-clothes, and washing. Gentlemen are educated for L.20 a-year,
including all branches of education, board, and washing. Some excellent
stone barracks are in the village, which is reckoned an important post
in approaching Quebec from the States. They were unoccupied, and in good
order. The river above the village forms a continued rapid for a mile or
two, and affords ample power for propelling machinery.
The state of the weather and roads induced me to abandon the plan of
visiting the Eastern Townships, and we agreed to pass down the banks of
the Richlieu to Sorrel. We obtained a cart, in which a seat was placed
for my friend D—— and me; and we set out, driven by a boy who was said
to know the road well, followed by Mr —— and Miss —— in the waggon we
all four occupied the previous day. A more wretched equipment than the
one furnished us seldom appeared. A ragged boy drove a small lean
Canadian mare, which hopped on three legs; and the ill fitting wheels of
our crazy cart besmeared us with mud, and creaked so loud, that we could
scarcely hear each other speak, while almost every passenger cracked a
joke on our musical vehicle. After jogging on for more than an hour, it
was discovered we were on the road leading to Montreal, instead of that
to Sorrel. A council was held—we determined to continue the route, and
Mr —— and Miss —— returned. We soon reached Longueil, and crossed the St
Lawrence in an awkward-looking ferry-boat, propelled by horses. This
horse-power differed from that we had seen used in the States for
similar purposes, by the horses walking round a circle instead of
remaining stationary. The machinery of the boat was fitted up for
twenty-two, although only fourteen horses were attached, and the poor
animals were unmercifully goaded by two ruffian drivers. On landing on
the opposite side of the river, we walked to Montreal in time for
dinner.
The soil, from Lapraire to Chambly, and around the village, is strong
clay, varying considerably in quality, and uniformly ill managed. Parts
of the canal channel, forming near Chambly, showed no change of soil at
the depth of ten feet. The soil also from Chambly to Longueil was clay,
and part of the country was flooded by the rain of the previous day. The
whole surface bore evidence of want of draining, and how essential
knowledge is to improved agriculture. In many instances, soil of the
best quality did not yield more than two seeds of wheat, while the crops
were intermingled with truly luxuriant indigenous tares, thistles, and
white clover. I had often heard of the French Canadians clinging to
their farms until starved from them—that is, till the soil did not yield
them food to subsist on, and I had here evidence of the process and
result of such an agricultural system. The ravages of the wheat-fly were
everywhere evident.
The appearance of the population, houses, and gardens, resembled that of
Terre Bonne, excepting that the floors of many dwelling-houses were
raised two or three feet above the ground, the result, doubtless, of the
wetness of their situation.
After dining at Montreal, we visited the nursery grounds of Mr C——,
which were by far the cleanest and most productive of any we saw in
America, on our way to the mountain. The mountain is about 700 feet
high, situated at a short distance from the town, and one of its chief
ornaments. From its summit is seen an immense extent of diversified
country, together with the waters of the St Lawrence and Ottawa flowing
in their various channels—those of the latter, by dividing, form the
islands of Montreal and Jesus. The mountain is altogether destitute of
public walks or carriage drives, although admirably adapted for both,
being covered with trees, and affording some truly interesting views,
which change at every step.
Next morning, in company with our kind and attentive friend, ——, Mr D——
and I rode in a gig round the country lying to the north and west of the
mountain, calling on different individuals, and examining several farms
for sale. During our drive, we visited the race-course at St Pierre,
where we saw three horses belonging to Mr —— get a gallop. One was
particularly small, and none of them seemed to possess racing merit. On
leaving the race-course, we drove to Lachine rapids, and returned by the
river side to Montreal, much gratified with our excursion.
A young thriving hedge of English thorn was observed at a village on the
north side of the mountain. Bushvetch, _vicia caraca_, and yellow
clover, were growing plentifully, and I also met with the latter at
Chambly. Mildew was seen on wheat where the crop was strong, and the
ravages of the fly generally traced, though they did not exist to the
same extent as on the south side of the St Lawrence.
The soil of the island of Montreal, about seventy miles in
circumference, is variable, including gravel, clay, sand, and peat; the
two former preponderating, and a great part of all requires draining.
Limestone is abundant, and on one farm I found marl, which we tested
with vinegar. The land is held by French tenure, and divided, in the
French manner, into long narrow portions of from 70 to 220 acres. The
agriculture cannot be said to have been reduced to system, if we except
the alternation of wheat and thistle pasture, already noticed. A better
state of things is, however, about to dawn—several British farmers
having commenced operations near the town of Montreal, and are draining,
liming, and manuring freehold as well as leasehold properties. At
present, the most lucrative department of farming is raising vegetables
for the market, and from the cheapness of manure, the limited extent of
free dry soil, the skill requisite for producing market stuffs, and the
prospect of increasing population, this description of husbandry is
likely to continue profitable for a great length of time. Manure during
part of the year is obtained without price, and it rarely exceeds
sixpence a cart-load. Vegetables are extravagantly dear at all times. My
friend, Mr ——, while I was with him, sold a considerable extent of
potatoes at L.35 per acre.
Hay fetches a high price at Montreal, more especially that of timothy
grass for horses. Clover hay is only bought for the use of cows. Two
Scotch farmers, in the neighbourhood of Montreal, sow from two to three
lbs. of red clover seed to an acre; and I doubt if it is economical to
do so when hay is grown for sale, as clover is more than one penny
a-stone cheaper than timothy hay. A milch-cow can be grazed during the
season for $1, and near Montreal, for $2, or 8s. 6d. sterling for a
season.
The price of land on the island is from L.10 to L.20 per acre, according
to quality, situation, and buildings. Labour is moderate, in the
American sense of the word. Mr D—— had let the cutting of his barley
crop, which was good, and the work well executed (to both of which I
testify) to French Canadians, at 7s. 6d. sterling per acre, without
food, or any etcetera. Mr ——, near Laprairie, paid a stout active East
Lothian ploughman by the year, L.15 Halifax money, 6½ Lothian bolls of
oatmeal, 3 bolls potatoes, 2 bushels peas, and a month’s meat in
harvest, a cow’s keep, a house and garden, with 10 cords of firewood. A
second servant got the same wages in kind, with L.12 in money. Mr ——,
also, near Laprairie, paid his servant $8 per month, and his second,
$7—both found, or L.20 sterling a-year, with bed and board.
The city of Montreal is situated on an island of the same name, on the
north bank of the St Lawrence, and at the head of the ship navigation of
the river. The houses consist chiefly of stone, and are disposed in
narrow streets. The principal building is the Catholic church, a
capacious building, not quite finished on the original plan for want of
funds, and said to be capable of holding nearly 10,000 souls. The
population amounts to about 30,000 souls, and the trade is most
extensive. While Upper Canada, and the western part of the Lower
Province, continue to prosper, limits cannot be set to the increase of
Montreal, which is at present the most important place of trade in the
British American possessions. Should manufactures ever flourish in Lower
Canada, Lachine rapids could supply Montreal with an unlimited
water-power.
CHAPTER XVII.
_Journey from Montreal to Hamilton—Separation of Friends—Rideau
Canal—Emigrants passing up the St
Lawrence—Massena—Waddington—Ogdensburgh—Lake of the Thousand
Isles—Andrew Dinwoodie, a Farmer from Dumfries-shire—Live-stock from
England—Innkeeper of Kingston—Great Britain Steamer—Emigrant
Passengers—John By Steamer._
Having long made up my mind to visit the western parts of Upper Canada,
and the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri, it was necessary to
separate from my companion, in whose company I had spent so many happy
hours, and to whose disinterested friendship I owe more than it will
ever be in my power to repay. It was arranged that he should take my
trunk and portmanteau to New York, to wait my arrival there, having
experienced the inconvenience of attempting to take luggage through a
thinly-peopled district. I reserved a plain suit of clothes, which had
already become shabby. Packing two shirts of cotton, and one of flannel,
five collars, five pair of cotton stockings, and a dressing-case, into a
small leathern cloak-bag which my friend had used for buckling behind
his saddle in Scotland, I left Montreal on the 18th of August; having
arranged to be at certain places on fixed days, so as to reach New York
in the first week of November. My friend left Montreal some hours before
me, on a visit to New Glasgow, and, after seeing Quebec, travelled by
Lake Champlain to New York, and reached England on the 17th September.
I was anxious to pass along the line of the Rideau canal, so much
praised by engineers, and sneered at by utilitarians, and which
nine-tenths of those best capable of judging of its merits condemn as a
lavish misapplication of national expenditure; but the irregularity of
the conveyances by this route, and my limited time, induced me to ascend
the St Lawrence; and, by way of varying the scene, I took the American
line of conveyances—travelling by stage to Lachine, and from thence to
Cascades by steam, from Cascades to Coteau du Lac by stage, and again by
steam to Cornwall, which we reached by 2 A.M. of the 11th.
The waters of the dark-coloured Ottawa, and limpid St Lawrence, formed a
striking contrast on the way to Cascades, situated on the former. The
banks of the St Lawrence were observed in some places to consist of clay
twenty feet deep, without any admixture—some excellent soil was seen
above Cascades—the wheat crop from Montreal upwards was perfectly ripe,
and barley in some instances carried.
At Coteau du Lac our steamer took seven batteaux, or open boats, in tow,
in one of which I counted 110 emigrants, of all ages, who were doomed to
pass the night on board. Men, women, and children were huddled together
as close as captives in a slave-trader, exposed to the sun’s rays by
day, and river damp by night, without protection. It was impossible to
look upon such a group of human beings without emotion. The day had been
so intensely hot, that the stoutest amongst them looked fatigued, while
the females seemed ready to expire with exhaustion. Conversation was
carried on in whispers, and a heaviness of heart seemed to pervade the
whole assemblage. Never shall I forget the countenance of a young
mother, ever anxiously looking at twin infants slumbering on her knee,
and covering them from the vapour rising from the river, and which
strongly depicted the feelings of maternal affection and pious
resignation. Night soon veiled the picture, and, I fear, brought no
relief to the anxious mother. The navigation up the St Lawrence in
batteaux is accomplished by propelling them with poles, and is
necessarily tedious. The accommodation is so wretched and irksome, that
the emigrants’ privations of transport may be said only to commence at
Montreal, where they perhaps expected them to end, and when their
spirits are ill fitted to bear up against them. Steam conveyance of late
must have shortened their sufferings.
On reaching Cornwall I immediately proceeded on board the American
steam-boat Dalhousie, which conveyed us across to Hoogdensburgh by six
A. M. From thence we were conveyed to Ogdensburgh by land, passing
through the villages of Massena and Waddington. We breakfasted at
Massena springs, the waters of which possess medicinal qualities, and
are pleasantly situated on a branch of the Racket.
The thriving village of Waddington is on the St Lawrence, and opposite
to which, on an island in the river, is situated the handsome residence
of Governor Ogden.
The country in this part of the state of New York is of indifferent
soil, and very partially cleared; the farm-houses are of the meanest
description, and there is no appearance of wealth or comfort amongst the
rural population. In many instances farmers were engaged in securing
their hay crops on the Sabbath, and much wheat was standing in a state
of over-ripeness. The previous state of the weather may, in some
measure, explain both proceedings.
We arrived at Ogdensburgh shortly after nightfall, at an excellent
hotel, which seemed filled with people. Tea, or, in common parlance of
the country, supper, was soon provided for the stage-passengers, who did
ample justice to the viands. On learning a steam-boat was to sail next
morning at daybreak for Kingston, I retired to a double bedroom, in
company with Mr M——, a north country Scotsman, who had just arrived in
the country, and was travelling to York. The landlord of the hotel
showed us personally to our bedroom, and also conducted us to the quay
in the morning.
Ogdensburgh is situated at the confluence of the Oswegatchie river with
the St Lawrence, and is the lower termination of American navigation on
Lake Ontario. It has many appearances of prosperity, and contains a
population of nearly two thousand souls.
At five in the morning the United States steam-boat left Ogdensburgh,
calling at Morristown on the American side of the lake, and on the
British one at Brockville and Kingston, where I remained for the
evening. Darkness prevented me seeing the Lake of the Thousand Isles, on
my way down to Montreal, and I was not fortunate in passing up during
day. The Lake of the Thousand Isles takes its name from the number of
islands which it contains, and is about forty miles in length; forming
the termination of Lake Ontario, and commencement of the river St
Lawrence. The islands are generally small rocks, a few feet above water,
covered with stunted trees, standing as close together as curling-stones
on a rink of ice in Scotland, and completely excluding a sight of the
mainland. The weather was unfavourable, a drizzling rain having set in,
which perhaps affected my feelings, and increased the sombreness of the
scenery, which at all times possesses little interest from the want of
life. So much is this felt, that a gentleman of my acquaintance, passing
up the Lake of the Thousand Isles a few weeks before, was sitting by a
traveller engaged with his note-book, when a crow came in sight. He
interrupted the writer, and begged he would notice the crow, as it was
the only moving thing he had seen during three hours’ sail.
On board of the United States I had a long conversation with a
fellow-passenger, Andrew Dinwuddie, from Dumfries-shire, in Scotland,
and I hope he will pardon me mentioning his name. Andrew was an
excellent specimen of his cautious countrymen, and showed credentials
highly honourable to his honesty and integrity. He had come to America
in spring, accompanied by two brothers, who had purchased land near
Prescott, paying L.300 for 200 acres, seventy of them being cleared.
Andrew was unmarried, and determined to look about him before sitting
down for life. After assisting his brothers to plant their potatoes, he
worked with an English farmer in the neighbourhood of Ogdensburgh for a
month, and was now on his way to Geneva and Canandaigua in the state of
New York, at which places he intended to work for some time. Andrew
seemed to have belonged to what is called in Scotland the class of small
farmers, and was much pleased with the change of country he had made;
having assisted at the Englishman’s hay and wheat harvest, for which he
got $8 a-month, working moderately, and messing with his employer on the
best of fare. He had found no difficulty in mowing during the warm
weather;—and greatly preferred American butcher-meat three times a-day,
to the oatmeal porridge, barley bread, and sour milk of Scotland.
While at Kingston, ten short-horned cattle, nineteen Southdown sheep,
and a lot of swine, came to the yard of the Kingston hotel, at which I
lodged, on their way to the county of Dumfries, Upper Canada, direct
from England. They were objects of interest to many of the inhabitants,
and were seemingly in excellent health and condition.
I left Kingston about dusk for York, in the St George steam-boat; one of
the shafts broke when opposite the Bay of Quinte, and we returned to
Kingston about noon next day. Another vessel was immediately expected to
carry us on our voyage; and, in the meantime, the captain refused the
passengers dinner; and four of us went on shore to dine, in order to be
in readiness. We called at the Commercial Hotel, esteemed the first
house of entertainment in Upper Canada; and, on an application at the
bar, were told a joint could not be prepared for us until four o’clock.
Having stated it was possible to dine without a joint, and we soon
expected a steam-boat to take us to York, a mutton-chop was promised in
half-an-hour. We had not, however, retired to the parlour five minutes,
when a spruce waiter entered, and told us Mr Macdonald would not give
dinner. I could not help contrasting this treatment with what we
experienced at Ogdensburgh; and if Mr Macdonald’s behaviour passes for
British manners and hospitality, they have not improved by
transportation to Canada.
The Great Britain, one of the largest vessels on Lake Ontario, was laid
alongside of the St George, and all hands employed in transferring the
cargo of the one to the other. A passage was made from the upper decks
of both vessels, along which the passengers passed to and fro; and as
they came crowding up stairs for hours together with their luggage,
reminded me of bees entering a hive laden with pollen; it was eleven
o’clock before the bustle was over, and the vessel under weigh. I
observed a quantity of gunpowder conveyed from the St George to the
Great Britain in the most careless manner, and locked in the captain’s
room. The owner of the Great Britain, Mr ——, was on board at the time,
and must have sanctioned the transport of this dangerous commodity.
The night-scene on board the Great Britain formed a counterpart to that
of the batteau on the St Lawrence, almost every inch of surface being
crowded with reposing individuals; the lower decks and passages were
crowded to excess, and a great part of the upper deck, which is
uncovered, was also occupied. The aged and infirm sought shelter below;
the boys clustered round the chimney stalks for heat, while the more
hardy stretched themselves on the upper deck without almost any
covering, surrounded by forms, or under lee of large packages. Near the
stern of the vessel a young woman, perhaps with a view of avoiding
danger, placed three infants on her outspread mantle, with their
innocent faces towards heaven; and as they gradually sunk to rest, the
motion of their slumbering eyelids seemed mimicry of the twinkling stars
in the firmament.
The Great Britain reached York about six P.M., previous to which the
passengers were mustered on the upper deck, and paid their
passage-fares on going below. Many of the emigrant deck-passengers had
not, or affected not to have, money; and I saw two middle-aged
respectable-looking females place part of their wardrobe in pawn for
their fares, and luggage had been credited from conveyance to
conveyance all the way from Montreal, with the fares of its owners.
Steam-boat proprietors do not lose much in this way, as the friends of
emigrants generally relieve the pawned effects.
The meeting of emigrants and their friends at York was an interesting
sight. In particular, a group of Scotch Highlanders, consisting of old
women and half-a-dozen of innocent-looking girls, incapable of speaking
the English language, appeared in ecstasy at joining their friends on
the pier, who seemed to have arrived in the country some time before.
They laughed, embraced, and saluted each other on the cheek, which is
rarely witnessed in America.
To accommodate a gentleman, I lodged in the Steam-boat Hotel at York,
which I found an indifferent establishment in the sleeping department. I
could not have remained a second night, or gone to bed the first one,
had light enabled me to see the actual state of things.
A friend having agreed to accompany me in a tour through the western
part of Upper Canada, and who was waiting my arrival, we left York
together, in the John By steamer, for Hamilton, where we arrived at
eleven o’clock. The John By had been constructed to ply on the Rideau
canal, with paddle wheels in the stern—the worst sailing and
ill-constructed boat in Canada. The engine was high pressure; and if a
vessel was to be built for roasting passengers, the John By might have
furnished useful hints. She was soon afterwards wrecked.
We could not gain admittance into any of the hotels at Hamilton, except
one, on account of the lateness of the hour. The beds were all occupied
before our arrival; but the bar-keeper said he would place one on the
floor, where Mr C—— and I were soon stretched side by side, and soon
afterwards some individuals, similarly situated, were admitted to share
our bed. On awakening next morning I missed Mr C—— from my side, who was
lying in a distant corner of the room; and he afterwards told me, that
disliking the company which joined us, he slipped from bed so soon as he
could do so unnoticed.
CHAPTER XVIII.
_Journey on the Banks of the Grand River—Corduroy Roads—River-side
Vegetation—Cradling—Settler from Edinburgh—Reserve of the Six
Nations—Nellis Settlement—Indian Notices—Settler from
Perthshire—First Settlers— Gentle Children—Agricultural
Notices—Great Heat—Drinking Water—Raising Bee—Brantford—Oak
Openings—Paris—Galt—Guelph—Waggoner at Table—Face of the
Country—Dutch Hotel._
We rose very early next morning, and rode in a hired waggon to a
friend’s near Albion mills, where we breakfasted, and set out for the
Grand River, accompanied by a third person, to whom I had written to
hold himself in readiness for the excursion. The road was tolerably
good, until within four or five miles of the river, which then consists
of almost one unbroken line of corduroy, on reaching which we returned
the waggon, and walked the remainder of the journey. A corduroy road,
or, in the language of the country, crossway, is formed of the trunks of
trees, laid close to each other, so that animals and carriages may pass
without touching the ground. It is formed wherever the soil is wet, and
may be considered log pavement. We came in contact with the river at
Brant’s tavern, where a wooden building was erecting of some
pretensions, and continued our walk down the left bank, where Mr W——
resides, about two miles below the tavern.
The soil from Hamilton to the Grand River is chiefly clay, of good
quality, and well settled, with exception of the Indian reserve on the
banks of the river. From Brant’s tavern to Mr W——’s, the road is
beautiful, the banks of the river being fringed with plum, cherry,
apple-trees, and hawthorn, encircled with the wild vine, the foliage of
which was particularly rich. I have often remarked the luxuriance and
beauty of river-side vegetation, and more especially in America, which,
no doubt, is in a great measure owing to the copious supply of moisture
afforded the plants by evaporation, and which is the more abundant on
moderate-sized rivers in a country like America, where the temperature
of day and night varies considerably.
The greater part of the crops had been carried, and those of wheat
remaining in the field appeared particularly shabby, compared with those
of Britain, being thin on the ground and short in the sheaf. I examined
a cradler at work in an oatfield, who was making good work, cutting low,
and laying down the ears with regularity. The implement is brought round
with a full and awkward-looking sweep, nine or ten feet wide, and jerked
so as to throw off the stalks, the whole of which are collected in the
cradle. By this mode of operating, the cradler supports the weight of
the crop collected in the sweep on his arms, and receives no relief from
any part of the cut crop, or implement resting on the ground, as in the
case of mowing grass with the common scythe of Britain: a heavy crop of
grain must, therefore, be particularly fatiguing to the cradler.
We found Mr W—— at home, who had been expecting us for a day or two, in
consequence of having been written to. He had been known to us all when
in Edinburgh, which he left in the previous month of March, and had only
been a few weeks in his present situation in the Nellis Settlement on
the Grand River. He had purchased six or seven hundred acres, about
seventy of which were cleared, and there was a good house, in the
Canadian sense of the word, on the property. For some time after the
purchase, he resided with the former proprietor, who only left the house
a few days before our arrival. His household establishment consisted of
a newly-imported Scotch ploughman; and as our host had not himself been
accustomed to house-keeping at any period of his life, the house may
have justly been termed Bachelor Hall. The evening was spent in walking
over the property, and admiring the beauty of the situation. Next
morning Mr W—— explained the peculiarity of his circumstances with
regard to household matters, which were temporary, and excited in all of
us mirth instead of regret. The breakfast table was laid out with the
only animal substance in the house, a large bone of mutton, the fragment
of a joint which had been prepared for us three days before, and now
produced to show we would have fared better had we kept our appointment.
I had made up my mind to try if there was flesh on the bone, which could
not be ascertained without using a knife, but unfortunately a large dog
scampered off with the relick before our eyes. Mr W—— at this time was
in the kitchen, infusing tea, and, when informed of the catastrophe,
promised to reward with a swing in a rope the poor dog, which had no
master, and had taken up its quarters with him a day or two before. A
consultation was held about obtaining a substitute for the bone, when
two of us went in quest of hen-eggs, a nest of which was found in the
barn, containing a great supply. On searching for the means of cooking
them, we could only find a boiler with a hole in the side, which seemed
to serve for general use. Into this vessel part of the eggs were put,
but it was impracticable to make the water boil, as it would have
escaped through the hole. On removing them, they were found sufficiently
done, and formed an excellent repast in connexion with the best wheaten
bread I ever met with, and which had been baked by the lady of the
former proprietor.
I have noticed these particulars in Mr W——’s household, from being
amongst the first real Backwood scenes we had met with, and which his
kindness and good-humour would have rendered agreeable under any
circumstances. He had been accustomed to move in the best society in
Edinburgh, and the facility with which he accommodated himself to his
altered situation, was deserving of praise. It has been said, the
circumstances of his household were temporary; and I have since learned
he soon afterwards married a young lady, whom I saw on the banks of the
Grand River, and trust he now enjoys that degree of happiness he so well
merits, and which I sincerely wish him.
In the forenoon of the day after our arrival, Mr W—— drove my two
friends, C—— and S——, down the banks of the river, I riding on
horseback, in company with Mr W. N——. The banks form what is called the
Reserve of the Six Nations, which extends from the mouth of the river on
Lake Erie to Brantford, a distance of about fifty miles, and embraces
three miles on each side of the river. The Indians granted part of their
lands, upwards of fifty years ago, to individuals chiefly of Dutch
extraction, who then settled on them, and whose descendants are still
resident. The land so granted is called the Nellis Settlement, and is
one of the most beautiful spots in Upper Canada. The poor Indians of the
Six Nations, like every one of the many tribes in America which have
come in contact with white men, have greatly decreased in numbers, and
have recently sold to the British Government fourteen miles in length of
their Reserve from the mouth of the river, and which has been surveyed,
and was brought into the market a few weeks after my visit there. To see
this district was the object of our excursion, but which the state of
the roads and want of time prevented our accomplishing. We retraced our
steps, after passing about half a mile into the newly ceded territory.
A number of well-dressed Indians of both sexes were passing up and down
the banks of the river on horseback, with good saddles and bridles. In
one instance, an Indian and his wife, or squaw, as they are called in
the language of the country, were riding together, she after the manner
of Englishwomen, with a child sitting behind, and the husband had a
child before him.
In going down the river, we called on an Indian of reputed wealth, named
Fish Carrier. He is a stout middle-aged man, with a wife and family. His
log-house had an appearance of comfort, having two large well-glazed
windows in front, a door with veranda to the back, and a stone chimney
stack. The family seemed to have finished a repast shortly before our
arrival,—a good table being covered with plates, knives, and forks,
recently used. There were two four-posted beds in the room, five or six
chairs, a cat, and several dogs. There were horses, cows, and pigs in
the woods. Fish Carrier could imperfectly understand, but was unable to
speak the English language, and Mr W. N—— being similarly situated with
the Indian one, the conversation of the parties was short and
unsatisfactory.
Some distance below Fish Carrier’s is the Council-house of the tribes, a
long narrow wooden building, with an upper and lower range of benches
round both sides, on which the senators recline during counsel. It is
kept by two old women, who cook on days of meeting. At the time of our
visit they were in the act of churning, and I sipped a little of the
buttermilk. The butter was particularly white in colour. I also partook
of bread made from Indian corn meal, mixed with a few unhusked French
beans, which looked like raisins in a cake. The bread was soft and damp,
and seemed to have been prepared by boiling. To me it was unpalatable,
although some of my friends did not dislike it. The roof was hung with
ears of Indian corn, considered public property, which are contributed
by individuals in years of abundance, and reserved for times of
scarcity. The Council-house is also used for dancing, and contained a
number of ornaments worn on such occasions, consisting of strings of
bones for fixing on different parts of the body, and prized for the
clattering they make when in motion.
On our return, a young Indian, of fifteen or sixteen years of age, shot
a small bird with an arrow from a common bow, and on being requested to
try and strike the bird when dead, he placed it on the trunk of a tree,
and missed it twice. Five small boys were shooting birds with a
blow-gun, and amused me by their manner of stealing up to the object of
their attack. The blow-gun is a long narrow wooden tube, with a small
arrow, on the end of which is a quantity of thistle down neatly dressed,
and which fills the tube, so as to give effect to the arrow, which is
discharged from the gun by the breath of the sportsman. It is little
better than a child’s toy.
Having a desire to see the lands which Government had obtained from the
Indians, Mr C—— and I set out next day at seven A.M., furnished with
horses, through the kindness of friends, to visit Mr B——. We had not,
however, gone far when his horse became so lame that he returned, and I
proceeded alone, down the banks of the river, which I lost sight of, and
after a long ride came to a settled part of the country, where I found
myself on the road to Cranberry, and four miles from the river. On
learning the direction of the river, I entered the woods with a tired
horse, which I led in my hand, and after a tedious walk, gained the
river two miles below where the object of my search resided, and which I
reached at two P.M. After resting the horse some time, I returned up the
river, and in two hours got over a distance which in the early part of
the day occupied seven hours. Many adventures are related throughout
Canada of people having lost themselves in the woods; and there is so
much danger in a bush excursion, that people unaccustomed to follow
tracks in the wilderness, ought never to incur the hazard. A
stubbornness of disposition led me to make an attempt to regain the
river without a compass. Guiding my course by the sun, my success was
complete, but had clouds arisen to obscure it, my situation would have
been unpleasant.
On introducing myself to Mr B——, he said he had heard of my arrival in
the country, and welcomed me kindly. He had only been settled a few
days, and was engaged in improving his house, with the assistance of an
Indian, who understood cabinet-making. The Indian was preparing a duck
for dinner, of which I partook, sitting on a chest, and having another
for a table. The duck might be a canvassback, but I made no enquiry on
the subject, and it was without feathers, by which alone I could have
determined the species. No food could be more grateful to my palate, and
I rejoiced at so opportune an arrival. Mr B——, with the understanding of
Government, purchased the Indian improvements, that is, paid them for
the house and cleared land; and was to pay afterwards the ordinary price
of land to Government. He was said to have farmed in Perthshire,
Scotland, and resided some time in the state of New York before coming
to Canada. Mentioning to him that I had been told of his leaving the
States in disgust with the people, he assured me such was not the case,
as he felt ashamed of having left his acquaintance there, who had shown
him the utmost kindness, and whom he respected and loved.
On my return to the Nellis Settlement, I passed one or two habitations
of white men on the river side, and seldom enjoyed a more agreeable
ride. The sun was low in the horizon, and gilded every object with a
rich and soothing hue, so different from the fierce rays of summer
noonday, that an admirer of nature seldom loses an opportunity of
viewing its loveliness. A romantic fancy may suppose this tint of the
setting sun an affectionate evening adieu to nature; and such are its
effects on vegetation, that I have seen the Scottish farmer stalk forth,
and gaze on the beauty of his crops, although perhaps insensible of the
cause of his pleasure. The unruffled waters, beneath a cloudless sky,
reflected objects on the surrounding banks; while Indian cots, situated
on the most prominent points of the terrace, occasionally met the eye.
When contemplating a landscape, where several small islands seemed
reposing on the surface of the river, and on which grew luxuriant Indian
corn, overtopped with magnificent sunflowers in full blossom, gentle
ripples issuing from beneath a bush on the bank of an island, led me to
expect waterfowl, but a squaw, standing erect, came gracefully paddling
a canoe filled with children, who had been cultivating the sunflower.
Swan never guided her brood with more majesty and care than this female
did her offspring.
I met some Indians, and a plain-looking white woman, with fair hair,
dressed in Indian attire, and carrying a child of Indian hue. She was
said to be a native of Ireland, and a solitary instance of a white
female living with the Indians.
My friends were at a loss to conjecture the cause of my absence, as I
engaged to dine at Mr N——’s, where I joined them a little after seven
o’clock. Next day we dined with Mr W. N——. These invitations came
opportunely after the loss of the mutton bone; and I have no doubt were
the means of saving the lives of several of Mr W——’s fowls. It was
gratifying to see the old settlers so attentive to Mr W—— on this
emergency, and I was glad of the opportunity of witnessing the manners
and customs of the descendants of the first inhabitants of this part of
the country. Mr N—— is pretty well advanced in life, a shrewd and
well-informed person, and has let his farm in shares to an Englishman.
Mr W. N—— is a very active middle-aged person, with a wife and family,
and cultivates his farm personally. He lives in a small frame-house,
with plain furniture, and every thing we saw was plain and neat. Mrs W.
N—— was also a native of Canada, cousin to her husband; had four or five
children; and was, I believe, without a female servant or help. The
children were thus the third generation which had been reared in
comparative seclusion on the banks of the Grand River. The softness of
manner, ease, and good-humour of the children, appeared equal to
families in the better ranks of life in my native country, and I was
anxious to ascertain if this gentleness of manner was real. With this
view I romped, fondled, and teased, within and without doors, the small
boys, without ruffling their tempers; and trust my little friends
Hamilton and Nielson will in age display matured fruits of their sweet
and early blossoms. Manner, like the disposition of children, is, to a
certain extent, the gift of nature; but the example of parents deeply
affects families, more especially when shut out from society. This
family unquestionably owed much to the good sense and conduct of both
parents, and ought to go far in satisfying people in Britain that their
children will not necessarily become savages by being removed to the
woods of Canada, if they themselves lead proper lives, which they ought
to do for their children’s sake, if not for their own.
I have already mentioned a dam across the Grand River at Dunville for
supplying water to the Welland Canal, and which throws back the water in
the channel of the river for nearly twenty miles, until it reaches the
Nellis Settlement. The beauty of the river has been injured below this
point by the stagnant water having covered the low lands, destroyed the
trees, and imparted a marshy and gloomy character to the banks. In the
Nellis Settlement, the river possesses much of its original character,
and is truly fine, gliding around some fertile and beautiful islands,
while the rich flat lands on the banks extend a considerable distance
back, and terminate in an undulating surface. The low land on the banks
of the river is what is termed bottom, or interval land, in some parts
of America, and is a fine rich loamy soil. The undulating ground is clay
of good quality, and has not been cleared to any extent. The low lands
are altogether cleared, though adorned with single and wide-spreading
trees; and it is here most of the settlers reside. If the Grand River is
rendered navigable to Brantford by means of locks, as is talked of, the
charms of the Nellis Settlement, one of the most beautiful spots in the
province, will be destroyed by the submersion of the islands and flats.
The soil of the Indian Reserve, including what was sold to government,
as seen by me on the east side of the Grand River, is chiefly clay of
medium quality, with very little vegetable mould on the surface. In a
distance of nearly twenty miles, I observed only one or two streamlets
joining the river, which does not augur favourably of the lands
abounding in water, unless the springs flow in a westerly direction
towards the Welland or Chippaway River. The prevailing wood is oak.
The agriculture on the Grand River embraces the cultivation of wheat,
oats, clover, and Indian corn, by the white population, the Indians
confining their attention chiefly to Indian corn, and occasionally a
little wheat. The female Indians bestow considerable attention on the
cultivation of Indian corn, which is planted on the best of land by the
river side, and infinitely surpasses any thing I saw belonging to the
white population. In many cases the crop was eight feet high, and almost
always has intermingled with it a few plants of the sunflower, still
more luxuriant than the corn, the large yellow flowers of which bending
towards the sun, impart a high degree of richness and beauty to the
crop.
At eight A.M. on the 21st August, the party at Mr W——’s broke up,
Captain A—— on horseback for Blenheim, S—— and the mutton-bone stealer
for Hamilton, and C—— and I on foot for Brantford. The morning was fine,
and the road being through the Indian Reserve on the banks of the river,
we enjoyed our walk for some time. But towards noon the powerful rays of
a vertical sun shone on us, while the banks and trees excluded every
breath of air, and we suffered considerably from heat. My friend on two
occasions petitioned for a few minutes’ rest, when we reclined under a
tree to cool, almost naked. We reached Brantford to dinner, a distance
of twenty-four miles, and learned the thermometer stood at ninety-four
degrees in the shade. In the evening we walked around Brantford, having
quite recovered the fatigue and broiling we underwent in the early part
of the day.
People frequently speak of the danger of drinking cold water in Canada,
and recommend a mixture of spirits as a safeguard, a convenient doctrine
for such as delight in stimulants. Having at every period of my life
indulged in the use of cold water when thirsty and taking exercise, I
saw no reason for a change of system while in America, which Mr C—— also
followed. In walking through the Indian Reserve, we became thirsty, and
being unable to discover water, we approached the dwelling of an Indian,
in the hope of obtaining a supply. A well-dressed interesting young
squaw was sitting under a wooden shade, with a deer-skin, the embers of
a fire, and cooking apparatus before her, apart from the house, to avoid
heating it. I asked for a drink, and on observing that she did not
comprehend the import of my words, motioned the action of drinking, when
she instantly glided into the house, and brought a snow-white bowl,
which she presented with water. We made a second application at an
Indian habitation, but our eloquence and gestures were unavailing, as
the inmates did not seem to wish to afford us relief. My friend now
contrasted the soft black eye and benevolent countenance of the squaw
who supplied water, with the dirty sordid looking creatures who denied
it; and while we were engaged in debating whether the different
appearances of the individuals really existed, or arose from our
associations connected with them, we suddenly beheld an interesting and
extensive view at a bend of the river, lying 200 feet below; and in the
foreground, at a few yards distance, a limpid fount bubbling forth from
the hollow trunk of a tree, at which we quenched our thirst.
In passing from Nellis Settlement to Brantford, two Indian school-houses
were observed, and we intended calling on their religious instructor, Mr
N——, who was from home. The Indian houses were similar to those on the
river below, with glazed windows, verandas for excluding the rays of the
sun, and a ladder on the roof for reaching the chimney-top. We several
times pulled excellent apples, and passed one tree of remarkable size,
loaded with fruit, surrounded by a fence, and its branches supported by
props.
The soil on the banks of the river was generally clay, though in some
places sand, and there was a tract of five or six miles of excellent
loam. The wood was chiefly oak, with here and there a few pines, which
on the west side seemed to prevail to the water’s edge. There is little
agriculture on this part of the Reserve of any kind. At the Indian’s
dwelling, where we obtained the drink of water, there was a good crop of
wheat, well stacked, a waggon for carrying home the crop, and a good
barn. This day I commenced a collection of seeds, by selecting six
species of wheat, three white chaffed varieties having red-skinned
grain, and three red chaffed varieties having very white grain.
While at Brantford, we observed a raising bee, that is, raising the
frame of a house by a collection of people. The frame had been
constructed, and the parts fitted beforehand, and the company had only
to put them together. The process was expeditiously effected, the
largest timbers being hoisted to their places by long sharp-pointed
poles. The power of brute-force was displayed; yet three men, with the
aid of mechanical power, might have accomplished the labour of thirty.
Brantford owes its name to the celebrated Mohawk Indian chief, Brant,
and is situated on a high bank on the east side of the Grand River. It
is a growing place, containing six hundred souls. There is a new bridge
erecting over the river, forming the great thoroughfare to the London
and Western districts; and it is said to be in contemplation to render
the river navigable to this point. On the opposite side of the river,
there is an extensive rich-looking flat country, a part of which is
occupied by Europeans on lease from the Indians.
Having experienced the inconvenience of walking in warm weather, we
debated whether to pursue the remainder of our journey on horseback or
in a waggon, and determined on the latter, which was engaged at $3 per
day, the driver finding himself and horses.
Next morning Mr W——, Captain A——, my friend, and I, left Brantford early
in the morning, on our way to Galt, and stopped to breakfast with a Mr
C——, a successful farmer, residing within seven miles of Brantford. The
farm consists of what is called oak openings or plains; and, on
examination, I found the soil consisting partly of clay and partly of
sand. The crops had been pretty good, especially a field of oats. The
straw of wheat in the barn showed no traces of mildew, and the grain was
equal to any I had met with in America, a sample of which I preserved.
Oak openings or plains consist of stunted oak-trees, thinly scattered
over the surface, so that the plough may frequently enter without
further obstruction than what arises from the roots of bushes. It is
quite certain that fire passes over the plains every year or two, and
destroys all tender vegetation. The effects of fire, I have no doubt,
also prevents the growth of the trees, which are sometimes pretty thick,
and in other places several acres are found without any. Oak openings
are free of vegetable mould, or even live vegetation of any value; the
soil is commonly light sand, and a superficial observer is apt to think
nature hath pronounced the curse of sterility on such spots. But part of
Mr C——’s soil convinced me the thinness of the trees, and thriftless
vegetation is not an effect of the nature of the soil, which is often
much under-rated. Oak openings may be cultivated by girdling the trees,
and ploughing with six oxen, and fallowing the ground two years.
Mr C—— speaks in high terms of his oak openings, only a small part of
which, in my opinion, merited praise. He estimates the expense of
raising the first wheat crop on such soil, including the price of land,
and two years’ fallow, at $20 per acre, and the return of the first crop
at twenty bushels. The price of wheat, last year’s crop, 1832, was $¾.
Gypsum, or plaster of Paris, he invariably applies to clover. Labourers
are always to be had at from $10 to $13 a-month in summer. Winter lasts
six months. I was pleased with my visit to Mr C——, and on parting
expressed myself so to him.
After breakfast we proceeded by way of Paris, so called from its
quarries of gypsum, or plaster of Paris, situated on the Grand River,
eight miles from Brantford, and one below the Forks, at which there is
mills. We soon afterwards reached Galt, also situated on the Grand
River, over which there is a bridge. It contains a church, grist, saw,
and pail mill; and several buildings are of stone. My friend had a
letter of introduction, which he had brought from Edinburgh, to a
gentleman in Galt, whom we understood to be in the habit of receiving
the bearers of such letters coolly. In order to guard against apparent
disappointment, we delayed calling with the letter till after dinner,
and gave instructions for the horses to be put to the waggon before we
left the inn. Our reception was, however, all we could have wished,
being asked to take wine, and tea, both of which we declined. In
conversation, we learned he had left his own residence to avoid company,
and building-lots in the village were not sold, for creating opposition
to Mr——’s store. The prospect from Galt is pine forest of stunted
growth, with a few straggling cedars on the margin of the river. We left
Galt in the afternoon, and reached Guelph at eight P.M. Next day we rode
into the township of Eramosa, and returned to Guelph in time for dinner,
and reached Galt in the evening.
Guelph is finely situated on the river Speed, a branch of the Grand
River, and is well supplied with water from springs as well as the
river, which drives mills, and over which there are two bridges. There
are about fifty houses in the village, only one of which is of stone.
There is a market house of wood, roughly finished, and without a stall
or a frequenter of any kind. Three considerable sized churches of
different sects, Catholic, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian, are being
erected. Three weeks previous to our arrival, a range of six or seven
wood houses had been burnt down, the brick chimneys of which were
standing.
This village could boast of ruins, if not of antiquities. The bridges
over the Speed at Guelph, and the corduroy, were decayed, and in a
shameful state of neglect, alike marking the worthless nature of the
wood and insufficient road-way management of the district.
The inn at Guelph is a good establishment for the country, and greatly
superior to that at Galt. Our waggoner breakfasted and dined at the
public table, in company with two gentlemanly-looking persons, lately
from England, without any explanation from the landlord. The waggoner
was a Lower Canadian, of French descent, and strongly resembling in size
and feature the common description of Scotch peasantry. He spoke the
English language in a broken imperfect manner, and was an unassuming
obliging person. This was the second time drivers had appeared at table
since reaching the American shore, and I did not experience
inconvenience of any kind on either occasion from their presence, both
having conducted themselves with the utmost propriety. A meal in the
United States and Canada is simply a feeding, and not in any degree a
conversational meeting; and ability to pay is therefore considered the
standard of admission to public tables. Britain and America are
similarly situated in this respect, but in Britain the facilities of
getting private tables, and various degrees of entertainment, completely
separate travellers into different grades. Viewing meals as social
meetings, texture of coat or profession ought not to gain or deny an
individual admission to table; and wherever the inhabitants of a country
have not been brutalized, true politeness at a public table never fails
to check vulgarity and impudence, as well as to impart pleasure.
The surface from Brantford to Galt, by way of Paris, is undulating,
chiefly oak openings, consisting of dwarfish decaying oak-trees, with a
good deal of underwood, and scarcely a plant of grass or clover
interspersed. In some places a good deal of pine is seen, but every
description of tree, including larch, is small and stunted looking.
From Galt to Guelph, and in the neighbourhood of the latter, the soil is
light, composed of sand or gravel, bearing inferior crops, and, judging
from the way sides, calculated to produce excellent pasturage. The wood
is small sized; and the district abounding with limpid streams. Annual
thistles were growing in vast numbers, and where cleared land had been
neglected, were occupying the entire surface. The clearing of land was
going on to a considerable extent.
The wheat was much mildewed, and some fields we examined nearly
destroyed by it. Sleighs, mere arms of trees, were passing along the
roads, drawn by two oxen, on which were small bags, seemingly going to
the grist-mill, and under guidance of a stout man, who could have
carried the bags on his shoulders. Such a misapplication of ox labour
arose, I fear, from laziness.
A considerable part of the country between Guelph and Galt is settled by
Dutchmen, many of whom have cleared farms of considerable size, with
good houses and barns. There is a respectable hotel within a few miles
of Galt, at which we intended to stop for the night. On entering the
bar-room, in which were ten or twelve people, the landlord was scolding
his wife in _high Dutch_; and as he continued deaf to our enquiries, we
left the house.
CHAPTER XIX.
_Journey from Galt to Goderich—Farmer from Roxburghshire—Female
Worth—Improved health of Scotch Farmers—Visit Captain
A * * *—Humming-birds—London Family in the Bush—Guides—Avon
Accommodation—German Settler—Notices of Nature._
Having letters from some friends in Scotland to a relation of theirs
near Galt, who had formerly farmed in Roxburghshire, I was anxious to
deliver the letters personally, and set out at six o’clock in the
morning in search of his residence, which was difficult to find, from
not being named. On enquiring the way at an old man on the road, we got
certain information in broad Scotch; and in the course of conversation,
he told us he thought Canada a rough bit at first, but he now liked it.
Calling at a house to ask the way, a man said it was one thing to put a
question, and another to answer it. Seeing the individual was in a state
of brutal intoxication, I walked to the waggon, followed by the poor
wretch, vociferating disgusting oaths, who seemed exasperated by the
silence and contempt with which he was treated. I afterwards learned he
had a short time before beat his wife out of the house, and was
considered on the high road to ruin.
We at length found the object of our search, Mr T——, walking in his
fields with Mr R——, whom I had seen at Kingston. Mr T—— had only reached
Canada the year before, and was not perhaps fairly set down. The farm he
had purchased was mostly cleared, and he was summer fallowing a
considerable extent of land, which was well ploughed, and laid off into
regular ridges. He had bought all the manure in the neighbourhood at
about sixpence per load, and was laughed at for having done so. The
house was built of wood, and two beds were standing in recesses in the
apartment where we breakfasted. Mrs T—— apologized for the mean
appearance of her house, which I assured her was unnecessary, as I found
few in the country so good, and its shining cleanness imparted more
interest to me than the highest glitter of British fashion. She was in
excellent spirits, and entertained us with many particulars of her
journey from Scotland. Arriving at Montreal when cholera was raging in a
dreadful manner, and her husband being in a delicate state of health, no
time was lost in pursuing their route. In passing up the St Lawrence
with her family and luggage, the boat admitted water so freely, that she
was forced to walk by the river side with an infant on her back. The
population being panic-struck at the havoc cholera was making, shut
their doors on emigrants, who, they imagined, had introduced the disease
into the country, and she was under the necessity of baking bread for
her family with her own hands, and firing it under a tree. After
relating many particulars of their first settlement, she concluded by
stating, that in Scotland she had three maid-servants constantly at her
own command, here she had no servants, and was happier without them. On
remarking it delighted me to find her in such excellent spirits and
pleased with her situation, as the change from the old country to Canada
appeared more trying for ladies than gentlemen, she replied with
animation, “O no, sir, ladies can manage their own department here, but
gentlemen require assistance in theirs.” Mrs T—— spoke with so much
good-humour and feeling, that it would have been rudeness to have
maintained an opposite opinion; and without investigating which of the
sexes in the middle ranks of life undergo the greatest privations at
first settlement, observation convinced me females get sooner reconciled
to their duties, and discharge them with better effect than males. Much
as I have ever esteemed my countrywomen, they never appeared to so much
advantage as in Canada, where their energies had been fully called forth
and developed by the new circumstances in which they were placed, and
their exertions induced me to regard many of them as heroines. Emigrants
are desired to bring out wives to Canada, and I add my testimony to the
justness of the recommendation. In almost every case that came under
notice, my countrywomen appeared calculated to stimulate their husbands
to industrious exertion, and some, under divine Providence, Seemed to
owe almost all they possessed to their fair partners.
One great source of rejoicing to Mrs T—— was her husband’s improved
state of health since his arrival in Canada, which she attributed to
climate. But were I to judge of the matter, I would assign his change of
circumstances as the more likely cause of his better health. Land in
Scotland is almost always occupied on lease of 19 years’ endurance, and
perhaps there is no situation more trying than a tenant with an
over-rented farm. In nine cases out of ten he cannot get quit of his
lease, or a modification of rent; if he rise early or toil late, the
fruits of his labour go to the proprietor of the land, and year after
year he finds his funds diminishing, with ultimate ruin in prospective.
Under such circumstances I have known individuals become drunkards,
others gamblers; some have sunk into a premature grave, and but few
minds remain in full tone, and still fewer constitutions. To escape from
such a situation, and reach Canada, where the present may be said to be
without care, and futurity so brilliant, must be a perfect Elysium and
restorer of health. It is but justice for me to say, that I am
altogether unacquainted with the circumstances in which Mr T—— was
situated in Scotland, but if like many of his profession, his improved
health may be regarded as an effect of his improved prospects.
We reached Captain A——’s, in the township of Blenheim, in time for
dinner, having passed through miles of forests, in which a track could
scarcely be recognised. The general appearance of the place had an air
of neatness, although it was only fifteen months since the first tree
was felled. He had already cleared about 30 acres, and reaped a
luxuriant, though mildewed, wheat crop. Oats, potatoes, and Indian corn,
were advancing towards maturity. Here, for the first time in Canada, I
saw crops injured from luxuriance, and only two or three instances of
such afterwards came under my notice.
The residence of Captain A—— was within 50 yards of a rivulet which
joined the Nith, the space between the house and the stream being
occupied as a garden, in which the taste of the family had begun to be
displayed in cultivating flowers. The house was a log cottage of
considerable dimensions, one longitudinal half of which was occupied by
a kitchen and sitting room; the other half consisted of sleeping
apartments, which I did not number. The door opened into the kitchen, in
which every thing was clean and neat, and which communicated with the
rest of the house. The interior walls consisted of unbarked trees,
against which an extensive library was placed, occupying one end of the
sitting room. When retiring for the night, we were conducted up a stair
into a kind of garret, where we were told we must sleep. At this time I
had not seen much Backwood life, and my looks, perhaps, betraying
astonishment, Captain A—— laughed heartily, and reconducted us to an
apartment below, where I reposed for the night, on a more comfortable
bed than any I afterwards met with in America.
Next morning, I arose before any of the family, and while walking up the
banks of the stream, ere the sun had peeped over the forest, enjoyed an
excellent opportunity of observing the humming-bird of the country.
Upwards of a dozen of these lovely creatures were feeding on the
blossoms of a plant growing near the river, the celerity of their
movements in examining and passing from flower to flower excited
admiration, and when moving to a distance, the eye could not follow
their rapidity of flight. A copious formation of dew had taken place in
course of the night, which draggled their beautiful plumage in
fluttering amongst the leaves, and they frequently retired to a fallen
tree to trim their feathers. They seemed regardless of my presence, and
plied their task within a few yards of me. They do not, like the bee,
rest on a plant when examining a flower, but thrust their long bill into
the heart of the blossom when suspended in air, and in this position
excite the noise from which they take their name.
Captain A——’s family consisted of eleven children, the eldest of whom
seemed about seventeen years. He had moved in the best society of
London, and in consequence of a sudden reverse of fortune, came to his
present situation, and at once placed his family in the bush, without a
servant or any one to assist them, and they bake, cook, wash, and do
every thing for themselves. Mrs A—— is a sensible woman, reconciled to
her situation; and her household and family matters testify to her
excellent management. Two sons, handsome, genteel-looking youths, about
fifteen or sixteen years of age, chop trees, and perform all sort of
farm work. The young ladies seem equally active in their department. I
was anxious to see the cows milked, but unfortunately they had strayed
in the woods, and could not be found while I was there. It requires a
considerable degree of heroism in people like Captain and Mrs A——,
accustomed to the gaieties and luxuries of London life, retiring to the
woods of Canada without a servant or any thing like their former notions
of comfort, and whatever may have been the impelling motive for the step
they took, their perseverance merits applause. It was an interesting
sight to see a young and genteel family so situated and happy in their
new position, and the pleasure experienced during my visit at Lamotte,
was an ample recompense for crossing the Atlantic.
In my progress through Canada I had witnessed female devotion of the
most exalted character, which circumstances prevent me noticing, but the
same reasons do not apply to the youths of this family, and I trust they
will pardon the liberty I take with them. Two slender and accomplished
boys, in a part of the world blighting to their first budding hopes and
enjoyments, inuring themselves to the hardest manual labour in support
of their parents, and infant brothers and sisters, is a picture of
disinterested virtue worthy of being delineated by an abler pen. I trust
their exertions will be crowned with success, and that a portion of
time, which can be spared from furnishing food, will be devoted to the
moral improvement of the younger branches of the family. What a source
of comfort these youths must be to their parents, whose precepts must
have had no small share in forming their character, and their conduct
may be instanced as illustrative of the advantages of parental care, in
a selfish point of view, where nobler motives do not exist. Their mode
of life may be different from that of their schoolfellows in England,
but in mature age they will look back with delight on their past
labours, and in all probability, great will be their reward in this
life, and greater in that which is to come.
After partaking of breakfast, we bade adieu to Lamotte, when the little
members of the family clustering around, reminded me of the
humming-birds seen in the morning, and I could not refrain from stealing
a kiss from a curly-headed child, whose soft blue eyes were innocently
fixed on the departing strangers. On our way to the Goderich road, we
were accompanied by Mr T. A——, mounted on horseback, with an axe over
his shoulder, to act as guide, and cut a way for the waggon. As he rode
before us, with his slender figure dressed in a clean neat jacket and
trowsers, snow-white shirt, with exposed collar and broad-brimmed straw
hat, I would at one period have thought him ill-adapted for a
Backwoodsman, but having, in course of my wanderings in the wilds of
Canada, witnessed the advantages of cultivated minds and habits, his
appearance was a source of pleasure, while I meditated on his probable
career in life. We fortunately did not require much of his axe services,
and parted with him at the end of five or six miles, where the road was
good. About two miles farther, the road seemed to terminate at a
log-hut, the inmate of which told us a waggon had never penetrated
beyond his dwelling, and would have difficulty in reaching the Goderich
road, distant four miles. He offered to be our guide, and provided
himself with an axe to clear the way. We had before this time commenced
walking, from the badness of the roads, and found considerable
difficulty in getting the waggon through the bush, when at length its
progress was arrested. In this dilemma a person approached, and said it
was impossible to proceed in our present route, and offered to show us
through the only passage. We were conducted many miles of footpath, till
we at last reached the wished-for road. I felt pleased with our bush
guides, one of whom was from Yorkshire, the other from Ireland; they did
not take advantage of our situation by stipulating for reward, but
seemed to act alone from friendship, and I bestowed on each a trifling
gratuity.
We dined at a tavern on Smith’s Creek, newly erected, good of its kind,
and a little after nightfall reached one on Avon Creek kept by an
intelligent Irishman. On retiring for the night, we were conducted to a
shanty thirty or forty yards from the tavern, consisting of one
apartment, containing three beds, one of which was already occupied,
another was destined for our waggoner, and the third for my friend and
self. This hovel did not even contain a seat, or any kind of furniture,
except the fore-mentioned beds, and the door was without a fastening;
the roof was of bark, and the rays of the moon shone through it and the
sides of the building, which bore a stronger resemblance to a bird-cage
than a human habitation. The beds were boughs of trees, put together in
the manner of a camp stool, with a netting of bark connecting the
frame-work. The feeble glimmer of a small candle fixed near the door,
prevented me seeing the bed-clothes, but the bed felt as rough and hard
as the corduroy roads over which we had travelled in course of the day.
On lying down for the night, the farmer’s saying to Mr T. A——, this is a
rough country for a gentleman, recurred to my memory; and in a few
minutes the chirping of a thousand crickets lulled me to repose.
Next morning I called our waggoner at daybreak, and, while the horses
were attaching, examined a grist and saw mill which were erecting by the
river side. We breakfasted on very poor fare at a tavern kept by a
German, who was one of the first settlers on the road, having been five
years in his present situation. He expressed himself satisfied with his
lot, having 1000 acres of land, and had only sixteen in his own country.
I remarked that he perhaps held too much land; when he told me he had
nine sons, to each of whom he meant to give 100 acres, and retain the
same extent for himself. His wheat crop this year consisted of sixteen
acres, and was almost entirely destroyed by mildew. We dined at Van
Egmont’s tavern, which is a wealthy-looking place for the country,
containing a store of miscellaneous goods, large barns, and a tolerably
good garden. We travelled five or six miles after nightfall to Goderich.
From Smith’s Creek to Goderich, a distance of about sixty miles, nearly
two-thirds of the road is corduroy or crossway. Occasionally a tree has
been left standing in the centre of the road, as if for the purpose of
attracting notice. These trees are generally rock-elm of the finest
description, but as others equally good could be found a few yards from
the road, those on its centre ought to be removed as interruptions.
The soil of Captain A——’s farm in Blenheim is a rich soft loam of easy
cultivation. The land of this township, and the adjoining one, Wilmot,
which we passed through, is loam of excellent quality. The wood is
chiefly maple, interspersed with elm, oak, cherry, and beach. On our way
from Lamotte to the Goderich road, we saw what is called a wind-fall in
the forest, or havoc of a whirlwind, where the decaying trunks of trees
were scattered in wild and mutilated confusion. Many single trees were
lying up and down, with large masses of earth raised by, and adhering
to, the roots, termed cradle-knolls, which, in some places, were so
numerous as to resemble graves in a churchyard. The soil in the township
of East and North Hope seems considerably inferior to that of the two
mentioned, and a great deal of bad land is afterwards met with,
consisting of swamp and wet clay, covered with stunted wood of various
kinds, and partially settled by poor looking people, lodged in miserable
hovels. I was grieved to see human beings had set themselves down on bad
soil, while so much of good quality remained unoccupied, and which would
have better rewarded them for the labour of clearing. It is perhaps the
policy of some to fix settlers on bad soil, in the first instance, as
the good will be sure to attract others. One person told me, with
seeming self-satisfaction, that his consisted of an inch or two of black
mould on top and fine white clay below.
Chess was plentiful in all situations on the Goderich road; timothy the
prevailing grass, a few plants of cocksfoot, with narrow leaves, and
white clover, were occasionally seen.
A deer was observed standing on the road for some time, at no great
distance from the waggon, and suddenly bounded off into the forest.
CHAPTER XX.
_Goderich Hotels—Eagle’s Nest—Doctor Dunlop—Cheap Dinner—Search for an
East Lothian Farmer—Goderich—Poverty of Settlers—Canada
Company—State of Goderich Settlement—Journey to London—Mr T***—Aux
Sable Creek—Ship-builder from Essex—Negro Settlement—Notices of
Nature—Robinson Hotel—Mode of Travelling—Huron Track Roads—London—St
Thomas—Port Stanley—Emigrants from Argyleshire—Dirty
Beds—Agricultural Notices._
On arriving at Goderich, we could not get admittance to Reid’s hotel,
unless my friend and I would occupy half a bed, which induced us to
drive to that of Mr Fisher, where we slept uncomfortably on the floor,
the landlady telling us, while preparing the pallet, that Goderich was a
poor place. While partaking of tea, served up after the fashion of the
States, I imagined the sugar had been put into the pot, as there was
none visible in the apartment, but next morning I discovered it was
mixed with the cream. Fisher’s hotel was crowded with workmen of all
descriptions, and by way of kindness, I suppose, we were invited to
breakfast with the family. My shoes had long remained uncleaned, and I
got them blackened here by paying 3d. sterling, which was unprofitably
spent money, as a few minutes’ walking in dewy grass rendered them as
brown as before.
After breakfast, we walked in the direction of Dr Dunlop’s new cottage,
on the north side of the river Maitland, and named the Eagle’s Nest. The
situation seems happily chosen, and the name is characteristic of the
owner. We spent a considerable time in examining the vegetable
productions of the large islands formed by the river, which, at the time
we saw it, was a mere brook, until overtaken by a shower, which
compelled us to return to Goderich without reaching the Nest. I
understood the islands at the mouth of the Maitland and the adjoining
banks, had been granted as a common to the inhabitants of Goderich. The
grass was very limited in quantity as well as variety of species, but
tall growing weeds of great beauty covered the surface. I do not know
whether these plants flavoured dairy produce; but the butter we got at
Goderich was so nauseous, that neither my friend nor I could eat this
substance for some days afterwards. The butter of Upper Canada was
generally of the worst quality.
On returning from our walk we called on Dr Dunlop, at the office of the
Canada Company, who introduced us to his brother the captain, recently
arrived in the country. I had been furnished with an introductory letter
to the Doctor, from a _well-known character_, both in Scotland and
Canada, and which I left with Mr Jones at York. The Doctor seemed busy,
and our conversation was limited, which I did not much regret, as I
visited America with a determination to judge of matters more from what
I saw than what might be told me, and there appeared nothing in the
circumstances of the Goderich settlement requiring much explanation.
As Mr Fisher’s establishment did not appear of the first order, we
determined on dining at the principal hotel, where we were admitted to
what Mr Reid termed a family dinner. The table seemed surrounded by all
the inmates of the houses twelve or fourteen in number, including
boarders and travellers of all descriptions. Mr Reid presided, and
amused me by distributing a tureen full of Scotch broth, with a tea-cup
for a divider, and from the shortness of the handle, his fingers were
immersed in stirring up the liquid. The entertainment was poor enough,
and cost the moderate sum of sixpence sterling.
Having promised, on parting at Montreal with Mr D——, to endeavour to
visit, if possible, a friend of his in the neighbourhood of Goderich,
who once farmed in one of the finest situations in East Lothian, I felt
anxious to witness the proceedings of an East Lothian farmer in so new a
settlement as this; and immediately after dinner set out in search of Mr
K——, who, we were told, lived about four miles from Goderich, on the
shores of Lake Huron. We at first attempted to walk along the margin of
the lake; but the quantity of drift and fallen timber which lined the
shore, joined to the surge which was rushing from the west with the
violence of a tempestuous ocean, rendered this route impracticable. On
regaining the banks above the lake, I approached a cottage, and enquired
the way. A young gentleman asked me to walk into his house, and he would
furnish a hand-sketch of the road. He was employed in mapping for the
Canada Company, and his productions did him credit. He told me he was
from Edinburgh, and brother to ——, a well-known engraver there, and
whose name was quite familiar to me. On enquiring the way a second time,
a mile or two farther on, I was astonished at a gentleman mentioning my
name, when he said he had seen me in Edinburgh, where he was a
brassfounder in the Grassmarket, and had only been a few weeks is the
country. Notwithstanding the assistance of a sketch of the road, and
minute directions received regarding it, we could not find the object of
our search, and must have passed the night in the woods, had not the
light of the moon, which was fortunately within a night of being full,
enabled us to reach Goderich. The road on which we travelled is termed a
concession line, and was marked by a blaze or axe-chip on the bark of
trees. From this concession line, the different lots of property
diverged, and were distinguished by marks which old countrymen could not
readily notice; and I have no doubt we passed over the property of Mr
K——, without discovering the tract leading to his abode. The concession
line, a mile from Goderich, was almost an undistinguishable path, on
which a horse or sleigh seemed never to have travelled. The cleared
spaces on the different lots seldom exceed a few acres; and while
conversing with my friend, I compared our route through the forest to a
hare-path in an East Lothian wheat field, and the openings around the
dwelling places to the forms of that animal.
Goderich is situated on the margin of Lake Huron, at the mouth of the
river Maitland, and consists of about forty mean wooden houses,
scattered irregularly over a considerable space. With exception of
half-a-dozen of houses, near what is termed the pier, the rest of the
village is about 200 feet above the level of the lake, partly on a cedar
swamp, through which there is a street of corduroy. The Maitland river,
when seen by me, on 28th August, was incapable of floating a canoe, and
a vessel, a few tons burden, could not enter the mouth of the harbour.
I found the Canada Company very unpopular at Goderich, although Dr
Dunlop is a favourite amongst the settlers, who are of the poorest
class, and seemingly without industry or energy of any kind. Indeed,
when men despair of overcoming their pecuniary difficulties, which must
have been the case with most of the first settlers, they are apt to
become both indolent and dissipated. The Canada Company charge 7s. 6d.
per acre for land, payable, with interest, by instalments; and when a
specified extent is taken, part of the settler’s travelling expenses are
allowed him out of the second instalment. This is a most disadvantageous
regulation for emigrants, being a premium to purchase beyond their means
of paying, and an unprofitable locking up, or perhaps rather transfer of
capital, which cannot by possibility fail of ending in ruin, as it hath
been proved by the whole history of American wood settlers, that they
find it difficult, for the first three years, with the utmost industry,
to do more than maintain their families. In this case, the interest on
the unpaid instalments is more than the cleared part of the farm will
yield of profit at the end of five or six years, where a person trusts
alone to his personal labour for improving. When all the instalments are
duly paid, the price of the forest land, which seldom yields a blade of
grass, and is totally unproductive, remains an overwhelming burden on
what is cleared. Dr Dunlop told me, that only one of the original
settlers continued to hold his land at the time of my visit to Goderich,
and alluded to a cause for their removal, which I did not think likely
to have produced the effect. The first settlers at Goderich were people
of limited means, the majority of them paupers, and they soon became so
involved to the Company, as to induce them to leave the district. Many
of the recent purchasers, perhaps forty or fifty of them, were working
on the Company’s roads while I was present, which the Doctor told me was
the only means by which they could render payment.
It seem bad policy in a nation overflowing with population to sell a
large though distant tract of land to speculators, like the Canada
Company, who must seek immediate gain, without regard to the ultimate
welfare of settlers, and only pursue revenue without aiming to develope
the permanent resources of the district. Such an extent of territory as
the Canada company possess, gives a monopoly of land, and a power of
enhancing price, operating on the emigrant as a tax, which is
transferred to the shareholders in England, instead of being employed on
the spot. The affairs of the Company are not likely to be soon wound up,
as the lands of insolvent purchasers will, from time to time, return to
its management, and the price of land will be raised beyond the demands
of the population, as well as let on lease. The political power of the
Company will soon be felt, and its minions thrust into the legislature
of the country, to the retarding of every local improvement affecting
the finances of the Company. The shareholders will ultimately occupy the
position of absentee landlords, and become the most avaricious of
taskmasters.
The first settlement in the Huron tract having been made in 1829, it
would be unreasonable to expect any thing like luxury or old-country
comfort in the neighbourhood of Goderich. The habitations of the farmer
are generally of the meanest description, and often quite equal in
wretchedness to the worst hovels of Ireland and Scotland, and perhaps
the notions of many of the settlers lead them to desire no better
accommodation. It has already been noticed, that only one of the
original farmers retains his possessions, and their successors are an
improved race. A change proceeding in this manner may have benefited
society, but at present there is a coarse rawness about men and things
at Goderich which I felt far from being agreeable.
We left Goderich at seven in the morning of the 28th of August, and
about seventeen miles distant, met Mr T—— and his friends journeying to
Goderich, and resting on the wayside till their horse had fed, and I
enjoyed highly a piece of bread which he presented to me. This gentleman
had one of his horses stolen by an Indian the night preceding, and which
was seen by us grazing with a halter on its head a few miles distant. I
had become acquainted with Mr T—— in travelling from Montreal to York,
and we regretted missing him at Goderich, where his local knowledge,
joined to his sound sense, would have rendered him a most desirable
companion.
It had rained pretty heavily in the afternoon, and we reached an inn at
Aux Sable creek, hungry and wet. In a miserable log-house of two
apartments, ten travellers passed the night, partly in beds and partly
on the floor. The door was a collection of open boards, and the walls
and roof admitted air and light in all directions. The bed which I
occupied, in common with my friend, was hard and uneven, and I arose
from it unrefreshed. The morning was so cold that I could hardly warm
myself by walking, and the rays of a cloudless sun were courted for
warmth at midday. After travelling nearly seven hours we made seventeen
miles, at the end of which I enjoyed the company of an old Irishwoman,
cooking pork, potatoes, apples, and tea to breakfast, for a party which
had travelled together from Aux Sable creek. This old lady and her
husband had been thirteen years on a farm of 150 acres, eighty of which
were cleared, and every thing around them looked comfortable. I joined
two reapers, and cut a few sheaves in a very fine field of oats, which I
was told had been cropped for twelve successive years without an
application of manure. After resting the horses, we proceeded on our
journey to London.
About noon of the preceding day, I had some conversation with a
ship-builder from Essex, in England, settled on the London road in the
Huron tract, and at whose dwelling I made an unsuccessful application
for something to eat. Like most settlers, he was full of hope, and
extolled the fertility of his soil. On remarking to him that his wheat
crop, which had been sown in spring, was destroyed by mildew, he
reluctantly admitted the fact, and added that he was assured mildew did
not visit the district above once in twenty years; not perhaps being
aware that I knew the district had only been inhabited three or four
years, and not even visited by a white person more than six years
previous to the time of our conversation. Some of this person’s family
had a sickly appearance, and on questioning him if any of them ever had
ague, he told me several caught the complaint while residing at
Hamilton, on Lake Ontario, but it was quite unknown in his present
situation. I record these anecdotes as two of the thousand instances
which occurred, of settlers lessening the evils, or rather magnifying
the advantages, of their situation, and how necessary it is to sift, by
reflection, the grain from the chaff of common conversation.
On the boundary of the Huron tract, next to the London district, we
passed a negro settlement. The houses of the coloured people appeared of
a particular construction, having the chimney-stack on the outside of
the log-house, and which stack is composed of thin sawn timber, placed
horizontally, and mixed with clay. Their chief crop was Indian corn,
well cultivated. Before my departure from Britain, I had heard this
settlement instanced as a complete failure, and used as an argument
against the emancipation of slaves, then a general topic of
conversation. The houses, barns, fences, and general appearances of this
settlement are certainly mean enough, but I considered it in most
respects equal, and in some superior, to settlements of whites in the
Huron tract of the same standing of three years. But admitting, for
argument’s sake, that this negro settlement had been a failure, the
circumstance could not form a good reason of expediency against
emancipation generally. When individuals attain maturity in a state of
slavery, they will become so demoralized as to be incapable of acting
with the feelings and aspirations of freemen and moral agents, and it is
the rising and not the risen generation that much improvement is to be
expected from. Perhaps the neglected and depressed state in which the
poor Irish are reared in their native country is the chief cause of
their making improvident settlers in Canada, and continuing hewers of
wood and carriers of water over so great a portion of the globe.
The land in the Huron tract is truly excellent, with exception of a few
miles around Goderich, which is sandy or gravelly, and some small cedar,
ash, and larch swamps, being fine clay with a covering of black
vegetable mould. The soil on the road leading from Van Egmont’s tavern
to London, is particularly fine clay, especially near the Bayfield
river, and the whole surface is perfectly level, with exception of the
margins of the creeks. The London district is gently undulating, the
soil greatly inferior to the Huron tract, and near the village becomes
barren sand.
The wood on the road from Goderich to London is chiefly maple,
interspersed with beech and elm, the latter being of considerable size.
White clover is seldom seen on the waysides, red never, timothy
plentiful, and a few plants of cocksfoot. Alder was growing in every
place where the forest had been cut down, and put forth shoots of
uncommon luxuriance, which seemed to die yearly, as I never observed a
trunk or branch of a former year’s growth. The species appeared the same
as that common in Britain, and perhaps the young shoots cannot withstand
the rigours of a Canadian winter.
I observed a wasp-nest in the ground on the Goderich road, where swarms
of the insects were passing out and in. They appeared similar to the
wasp of Britain; but my friend was not philosopher enough to be
prevailed on to try their stinging powers.
On reaching London we stopped at the Robinson hotel, christened a few
days previous to our arrival, in compliment to the chief justice of the
province, who had honoured the house by his presence while on the
circuit. The landlord told us the dinner was over, but that he would
prepare something for us immediately. In the meantime we retired to
wash, and at the end of an hour and a half discovered it was intended to
put off our eating till the arrival of tea hour. We had been treated in
the same manner at Brantford; and after remonstrating with the landlord
on the impropriety of promising dinner without furnishing it, we removed
to the Mansion House hotel, where we experienced civility and attention.
This evening we parted with our waggoner, Francis Packet, who had
brought us from Brantford. Unlike his countrymen, he possessed little
wit or humour, but he was very good-natured, strictly sober,
accommodating, and an excellent driver. He seemed disposed to accompany
us throughout the remainder of our tour, and I confidently recommend him
and his chestnut horses, John and Charlie, to all who may require their
services. Francis was seldom disposed to talk much, but he invariably
accosted every person on the road, by saying, in broken English, “How
far tavern?”
At Brantford we engaged a waggon in preference to horses, under an idea
of its being an easier mode of conveyance, but I am now satisfied our
opinion was erroneous, as horseback would have been more expeditious,
and less fatiguing than our waggon, over such roads as we travelled. The
roads formed by the Canada Company in the Huron tract have been styled
good by the Backwoodsmen, and so puffed off in every British newspaper,
that Englishmen may be apt to imagine they are Macadamized. They are
simply straight lines, formed by felling trees, the branches and trunks
of which have been burnt, or formed into corduroy, and the stumps, from
two to three feet in height, left standing. I have already alluded to
the extent of corduroy, a description of roads which most travellers
speak of with horror, and, without meaning to praise it, I must say it
was by far the best and smoothest portions of the Goderich roads. The
roots projecting from the stumps in a slanting direction kept the wheels
and axles of our waggon moving up and down with the regularity of the
beam of a steam-engine, and were alike annoying to us, and fatiguing to
the horses, and more especially when travelling between Van Egmont’s
tavern and London. In the neighbourhood of Goderich people were engaged
in burning out the stumps, and throwing the earth from the sides into
the middle of the road, giving it a convex form, which, in American
phraseology, is called turnpiking, and this operation will be extended
in time, if settlers have not cash to discharge their engagements to the
Company.
London is situated at what is termed the Forks of the Thames, and when
the forest is a little more cleared away than at present, few situations
will be accounted more beautiful. At present a number of houses are
being erected, and the village is rising rapidly into importance. It
contains three or four large hotels, many well-filled stores, and a
court house, of which the inhabitants feel proud.
On the 30th August we left London for St Thomas and Port Stanley, in a
waggon belonging to St Thomas, and enjoyed our drive after the jolting
snail pace we had experienced on the horrid roads of the Huron tract.
Dining at St Thomas, we walked to Port Stanley, where we remained for
the night. Next morning we returned to St Thomas, in the midst of a
heavy ran, which confined us to the house for the greater part of the
day.
St Thomas seems healthily situated on a bend of Kettle creek, about 200
feet above its waters. Three years ago it consisted of thirteen houses,
now there are about fifty. Mr Gregory, at whose hotel we stopt, then had
four beds, now he has twenty-five, and is engaged in enlarging his house
to twice its present size. There are other two good hotels in the
village.
Port Stanley is situated at the mouth of Kettle creek, and has a
tolerably good harbour, formed by wooden piers jutting into the lake.
This is almost the only port at present on the north side of Lake Erie,
and from its proximity to London and St Thomas, its trade will greatly
increase. A steam-boat commenced this season to ply regularly from
Buffalo, by which a number of British emigrants reach the London
district by way of New York and the Erie Canal. Steam-boats also touch
in passing from Chippaway to Sandwich and Chatham.
Kettle creek is a small stream running in a deep channel, the banks
being clay, and nearly 200 feet high at its mouth on the shores of the
lake, from the bosom of which we saw the moon rise majestically, while
examining the banks. On Kettle creek there is a carding, grist, and
saw-mill, a distillery and brewery, situated between St Thomas and Port
Stanley.
At Port Stanley I conversed with a party of emigrants encamped on the
wharf, from Argyleshire, Scotland, who had come by way of New York, and
seemed in comfortable circumstances. The males of the party had gone
into the country in search of relations, who had settled some years
before, and the females were anxiously looking for their return. Several
women, apparently on the verge of seventy years of age, and infant
children, were amongst the number. A middle-aged woman complained to me
of the dirtiness of the beds at Port Stanley, and the extravagance of
the charges. On the preceding night she had been charged 1s. for a bed.
Water to wash her children’s faces could not be obtained, and the party
preferred lying in the open air to the nasty beds. This was a sensible
and well-informed woman, although she had not got quit of her home
prejudices in some little matters. The difficulty of obtaining water to
wash her children might soon have been got over, by going for it herself
to the lake or creek, neither of which were seventy yards distant; and
if a vessel for holding water had been denied her, she might have taken
the children to the water. People brought up in an artificial state of
society must often wonder at their own helplessness on first arriving in
Canada. I quite agree with my countrywoman in the dirtiness of the beds
in some parts of western Canada. My friend C—— much oftener slept on the
floor than in the beds; but long before this time my notions of delicacy
in this respect had been overcome by reflection, if not blunted by
habit, and I reposed as soundly while in Canada, as ever I did in the
most luxurious night of my life.
The surface between the village of London and Lake Erie is undulating,
varying from clay to sand, and a very small portion can be termed rich.
Three miles from Port Stanley the soil is oak openings of the poorest
sand. There is a scarcity of running water, Kettle Creek being the only
instance seen in a distance of thirty miles. Many orchards are to be met
with, and soil and climate seem highly congenial to the apple-tree.
The settlers on what is known by Talbot road, running through St Thomas,
and at no great distance from Lake Erie, live in mean log-houses, with
miserable barns and fences. The clearances extend from thirty to sixty
acres, and improvement of every description seems at a stand amongst
them. Labourers’ wages were stated at $120 a-year, with bed and board.
Wheat, crop 1832, was 2s. 9d. cash, and 3s. sterling, store-pay, per
bushel. Mr Gregory told me he had purchased good wheat at St Thomas at
1s. 9d. per bushel, and it has been known as low as 1s. sterling.
CHAPTER XXI.
_Colonel Talbot’s residence—Camp-meeting—Barn—Mrs Aldgeo—Moravian
Indian village—Cheap fruit—Runaway slaves—Excursion to Bear
Creek—Mr Goose—Soil—Agricultural Notices—River Thames—Unhealthy
appearance of inhabitants—Chatham—Plains—John Macdonald—Colborne
Furnace—Neighbourhood of Amherstburgh—French inn._
In travelling from London to St Thomas, we were told of a Methodist
camp-meeting in the neighbourhood; and as I had long been anxious to see
one, we agreed to attend on the Sunday, when the meeting would be
fullest. Early in the morning, people, in waggons and on horseback, were
streaming in crowds through St Thomas towards the meeting, and as I was
afraid of losing patience before evening, when the richest scene is said
to take place, we embraced an offer of going to Colonel Talbot’s in the
forenoon, distant about twelve miles west from St Thomas. The colonel’s
residence may be described as a cluster of mean wooden buildings,
consisting of dwelling-houses, stables, barns, pigstyes, and
cattle-shades, constructed and placed seemingly without regard either to
convenience or effect, commanding a view of Lake Erie, from which it is
distant about 200 yards, and at the mouth of Ottar creek, a small brook,
with clay banks of considerable height. The clay banks behind the
colonel’s house have a barren and naked appearance, while the lake in
front is too near. The situation, nevertheless, has capabilities to make
a fine place, when taste shall build a habitation. The garden, which was
badly kept, contained some fine apple and pear trees, which we viewed
from the outside of the fence. There were a few weeping willows, the
first I saw in Canada, and which raised the colonel considerably in my
estimation, as they are not, I believe, indigenous to the country.
The cleared ground may extend to about 200 acres, and is partly clay and
partly sand. The fences and general appearance of the place seem to mark
the Colonel as an indifferent manager, both with regard to neatness and
profit.
On the creek there is a site of a mill, which was burnt down by the
Yankees during the war, and which remains unrepaired. The colonel is
said to have narrowly escaped being captured at this time, by a party of
Americans, who came intentionally to take him prisoner. The colonel, at
the time of their arrival, happened, it is said, to be occupied in
milking cows in the fields, and thereby escaped detection till he
reached the woods.
It was my intention at one time to have introduced myself to the
colonel, who was observed standing at his door, when we were only a few
hundred yards distant; but the accounts received in the neighbourhood
induced me to think there was very little chance of our interview being
attended with pleasure, and I withdrew without making his acquaintance.
We returned to St Thomas, which we left at half-past four, in a waggon,
for the camp-meeting, and on our way met multitudes of people on their
return home. It now became evident we had been too late in visiting the
meeting, to see the greatest assemblage, but consoled ourselves that the
most fervent worshippers would be more readily distinguished. Our waggon
was left within a mile of the meeting, and we proceeded on foot through
the forest. The ground in the midst of the forest had been prepared for
the occasion, having had the brush or underwood removed, and trees laid
in parallel rows, by way of seats, for five or six hundred people. On
entering a square, formed by tents, in which the people reside for four
or five days together, I was disappointed at the smallness of the
assemblage, which did not exceed three hundred souls. Many people were
walking up and down, engaged in mirthful conversation, and five or six
small groups were standing in different parts, singing hymns in a low
tone. At this moment I observed a comely young woman in front of a tent,
laughing and nodding familiarly to a numerous acquaintance, which
induced me to think she might be engaged in attending a tent for
entertaining the company. She bore a striking likeness to a valued
friend in Scotland; and while engaged in tracing the resemblance,
feature by feature, she and a younger companion jumped into a waggon,
and seated themselves in a conspicuous situation, as if wishing to
attract attention. On walking round the square, I was riveted to the
spot by the sweetness of a young lady’s voice, dressed in white, with a
very broad gipsy straw-bonnet, and black veil hanging over her shoulder.
Her figure was above the middle size, slender and graceful, her features
expressive and handsome. She was accompanied by another lady, wearing a
bonnet and veil of the same description, and a gentleman, seemingly her
sister and brother, and all were engaged in singing. From the appearance
of things, I concluded the people had a short time before been engaged
in taking tea.
A little while after entering the square, five or six old men placed
themselves in front of a rude platform erected for the preachers, and
commenced singing in a loud strain, on hearing which the different small
parties came and joined the old men. The singing lasted about ten
minutes, when praying succeeded, and each individual pronounced a
different prayer aloud. At this time a minister placed himself on the
platform or pulpit, and in a stentorian voice, ejaculated an impassioned
prayer, which, by degrees, excited the feelings of the people below him,
and when they reached what he, perhaps, considered the proper key, he
descended and joined them on his knees.
I was standing close beside the worshippers, on a trough used for
collecting the juice of the maple in spring, leaning my back against a
tree, and gazing on the extraordinary scene. Many individuals of both
sexes were bellowing at the utmost pitch of their voice, and clapping
their hands in seeming transport; others were whining supplicatory
strains, and wringing their hands in despair. The comely young woman and
her companion, formerly noticed, joined the group in a standing position
in the first instance; they soon became bathed in tears, and ultimately
joined in prayer in a state of high excitement. A very emaciated old
woman, with dishevelled locks of silvery whiteness, shrieked so loud and
piteously, that the minister’s voice became unheard, and something like
a thrill of uneasiness vibrated on my nerves. Such was the confusion and
discord, that I was unable to collect two connecting sentences from the
prayer of any individual. When the devotees had seemingly reached the
highest pitch to which their feelings would strain, the lady with the
gipsy bonnet stepped forward near to where I was standing, and commenced
singing in the most soothing and melodious tone. She was joined by her
sister and brother, and soon afterwards by all the sect. In this manner
prayer and praise succeeded each other, during which the feelings of the
worshippers were alternately excited and lulled by minister and nymph,
like ocean by tempest and calm.
Many bystanders were laughing at the exclamations and postures of the
worshippers; others were reading newspapers, or carelessly engaged in
conversation. One individual, more prominent in his ridicule than the
rest, was rebuked for his conduct by one of the sect, when a controversy
ensued between the parties, who were listened to by a crowd collected
around them. On approaching the disputants, one was openly avowing his
unbelief in the Bible, and the other, without meekness, condemning his
sentiments and conduct; but neither possessing the power of arranging an
argument, I left them engaged in the hopeless task of trying to convince
each other.
There was something so different in the impassioned supplications of the
minister, whose aim seemed to be to rouse the feelings, without
impressing the minds, of his audience—in the time, place, and manner of
addressing the Supreme Being, so different to what I had been accustomed
to in the Presbyterian worship of Scotland, that at first I could not
believe the sect was addressing the same Deity. The earnest, excited, I
may say hysterical, devotions of one party, the indifference and
unrestrained scoffing of the other, gave rise to such conflicting
emotions, that I arranged to meet my friend in half an hour, and retired
from the multitude.
In the meantime, fires had been lighted up on the ground in different
parts of the square, one six feet high near the platform, and a few
candles were glimmering in the tents. The foliage of the maple and oak,
so remarkable for richness and variety of autumnal tints, formed a
beautiful canopy over the heads of the people, and, when gilded by the
flames of blazing fagots, and intermingled by rising sparks, had a
supernatural and solemn effect. Could I have alone contemplated nature
unconnected with the part humanity was acting, my enjoyment might have
been great, but the wailings of fellow-beings, and the shouts of boys on
reaching the ground, disturbed returning repose.
On again approaching my friend, a preacher was thanking the Almighty for
the manifestations of his goodness since they had met together, and
concluded by requesting all who desired to be released from their sins,
to accompany him to another place, and a procession to the place ensued.
This consisted of a small enclosure, formed by a single rail of
saplings, nailed to the standing trees, in the centre of which were two
branchless trunks lying parallel to each other, and is perhaps what is
termed the pen. Here the preacher again requested all who earnestly
desired to be relieved from their sins, to come within the lines which
had been prepared for them.
The whole devotees then prayed promiscuously aloud, and when at the
height of excitement, the nymph of the gipsy bonnet commenced singing,
standing on the outside of the enclosure, and was joined by the people
within.
When the singing ceased, it was announced that Brother Fraiser was to
preach, and the people assembled around the shade on the seats prepared
for them, after being repeatedly requested to do so. At the conclusion
of praise and prayer, a text was given out, and sermon commenced. Mr
Fraiser now discovered that he was hoarse, perhaps from previous
exertion, and in the midst of his apology to the audience, I took my
leave at half-past eight o’clock.
The devotees were few in number, perhaps not more than sixty, and almost
either old men or young women, the Irish brogue being conspicuous
amongst the former. They seemed of the lowest class, not more than
half-a-dozen of well-dressed people being amongst them. There were four
ministers.
I could not divine why the pretty creature with the gipsy bonnet did not
join in prayer, and commenced singing at the proper time. Could her
bonnet and clothes be too fine for kneeling and tossing on the ground
like others, or had she a part to act?
At the time of my departure, there might be nearly three hundred people
on the ground, including all descriptions, amongst whom were fifteen or
twenty females, unconnected with the sect, and a great many boys. On
walking from the meeting, many youths were met on their way to it.
It is but justice for me to say, that I did not witness any act of
impropriety or indecency by the attenders of the camp-meeting; but
whether this arose from the character of the people, the time of night,
or my want of discernment, others may determine. The meeting was,
however, a small one, and in a part of the country not likely to have
furnished many examples of disregardless profligacy. Whether
camp-meetings are favourable to the cause of genuine religion, is matter
of dispute, and the greater part of those whom I heard speak on the
subject, supported the negative side of the question. Perhaps the matter
is oftener determined by feeling than reason. It would be presumption to
give a decided opinion on so serious a subject, with such limited
opportunity of judging; but something extraordinary will occur to induce
me again to visit a camp-meeting. This may be prejudice.
On leaving the camp-meeting, we proceeded to a tavern five miles
distant, on reaching which we learned that the beds and floors were so
occupied, that we could not gain admittance. We, however, obtained
permission to lodge ourselves in the barn, which, on scrambling over
several rail fences, we found open, and occupied by human beings snoring
in full chorus. The mows of grain being of different heights, we
ascended to the attics, where we passed the night. The grain seemed to
have been lately carried in, its upper surface being moist from
sweating, which, joined to currents of air passing through the openings
in the roof, rendered me so cold, that I had recourse to my flannel
shirt for the first and last time between leaving Montreal and New York.
Next morning I awoke from a sound sleep, and, like a dog, put myself to
rights by a shake, shouldered my knapsack, and took the road at
half-past four o’clock, in as good walking trim as at any former period
of my life.
The day proved hot—we dined at Delaware, a village of seven or eight
houses, situated on the Thames, over which there is a bridge, and the
road passes to the north side of the river. I was anxious to be present
at a sale of Crown lands, which was to take place at Chatham next day,
but we could not obtain the means of transport, and no alternative
remained but jogging along on foot. We called at the land-office at
Caradoc, and reached Mrs Aldgeo’s tavern an hour after nightfall, where
we found two gentlemen who had passed us on the road in the afternoon,
and one of whom I had seen at York. They were going to the sale of Crown
lands at Chatham, which one of them did not reach in time, and the other
remained at Mrs Aldgeo’s, having been slightly injured by a fall from a
waggon.
Mrs Aldgeo’s tavern is a log-house of mean appearance, having two
apartments—a kitchen, and room for all purposes. It is, however, the
most comfortable house of entertainment in this part of the country,
owing to the excellent management and good-humour of the hostess. Four
individuals slept in the same appartment, in two clean beds, in which we
were told, by way of recommendation, the Chief-Justice and
Attorney-General had slept a few nights before.
The next morning proved wet, which enabled me to see a little of the
economy of the establishment; and I particularly remarked a poor fowl
very unceremoniously knocked off a rail fence with a stick, and in the
space of twenty minutes presented at table in the shape of an excellent
stew. Mrs Aldgeo is a genuine Irish lady, from the old country, and her
kindness and loquacity during breakfast, which she served out, were
unbounded. She did not always wait for an answer to her questions; and
with a few pauses, held forth in the following manner:—
“I was married at the age of twenty-four to Aldgeo, then eighteen and
a-half, and the finest-looking man in the world. I lost him six years
ago, God rest his soul! it was a sad loss to me as—but of this no more.
Yes, my poor dead husband left four horses, fifteen sheep, twenty cows,
forty hogs, ox chains, auger, gimlet, and other farm utensils. Will you
take something more, Mr ——? I will help you to a little more of the
fowl; you must eat while under my charge, and not become thin—there,
take an egg. Here is an elegant potato from the garden, where they are
planted for the old woman, as she has not time to go to the fields. My
boy will sometimes say, ah, mother, leave the gentlemen to themselves;
but I like to press old-country gentlemen, when not proud. I never press
Yankees; them boys help themselves. Yankee women are lazy
good-for-nothings, eating cake and sucking sugar all day long. I attend
to man and beast. Yes, there is no one to assist me in the house, and I
look to the fowls, hogs, and cows; in the evenings, my feet are like to
drop out of my shoes. Do you see that field on the opposite side of the
road?—my hands burnt all the brush on that field. Do take some of the
bread baked by the old woman; I bake some every afternoon—that is
handsome bread. The Scotch lawyer below, with the wooden leg, and angel
children, brought his pretty little wife here to learn to make bread. I
use no barm, but mix two parts of milk and one of water together, add a
spoonful of salt, a little flour, and let them stand ten or twelve hours
by the fire. Then make the bread with milk, as water gives it a black
colour. I make my own soap—oh, darling soap—and never boil it. My boys
have not taken wives, but my two eldest daughters are married. Did you
observe an elegant store at the corner of —— in London? that belongs to
my daughter’s husband. My youngest girl is at a boarding-school in
London, where two ladies from England have lately commenced, and I pay
for my girl $39 a-year.”
The rain ceasing about noon, we left Mrs Aldgeo’s, and reached
Howardbridge to tea, where the road passes to the south side of the
Thames. The roads were fatiguing in consequence of their wetness, and we
gladly accepted of an offer, made by two gentleman in a waggon, to carry
our knapsacks, and in whose company we next day travelled to Chatham,
where we spent the night. Some time before reaching Chatham, I obtained
a draught of water from a young girl on the banks of the Thames, to whom
I proffered a piece of money, which she declined, saying, she never
accepted money for such things. At this time my British habits were not
altogether laid aside.
The soil on the banks of the Thames, from the point where the St Thomas
road joins that from London to Sandwich, is oak openings, seemingly of
inferior quality, all the way to Delaware, and from thence, to six miles
below Mrs Aldgeo’s tavern, poor clay, with small stunted wood. From
this, passing through the site of the old Moravian Indian village, the
soil is poor sand, and a little farther on, becomes loam of the best
quality.
The Moravian Indian village is situated on a bend of the Thames, and the
surrounding lands were bearing luxuriant crops of Indian corn. The old
village was burnt by the Americans during the last war, and on its site,
a mile to the Math of the present one, some fine apple-trees are
standing, the fruit of which we found agreeable as quenching thirst.
Here I observed, for the first time, a species of hawthorn with glossy
leaves, of a smaller size, more numerous prickles, branching, and of
taller growth than the common hawthorn of the country, and apparently a
better hedge-plant. On the banks of the Thames, above Chatham,
(_Celestina Scandens_,) a climbing plant, with beautiful orange-coloured
berries, was first observed growing luxuriantly on many trees, entwined
with the vine. Apple-trees are numerous near the river, and the crop so
abundant, that they were breaking under their load. I was offered any
quantity of fruit at 1½d. sterling per bushel, gathering it myself. The
peaches were also a great crop. A pear-tree was seldom seen.
In the evening, we walked down the banks of the Thames, for the purpose
of procuring horses for an excursion, and succeeded in our mission. In
returning, we observed two men of colour crossing the river in a canoe,
and leading a horse, which was swimming. On entering into conversation
with them, I learned they were brothers from Kentucky, and both farmed
on lease, one of them renting 190 acres on the banks of the river, fifty
of which were cleared, for $20 per annum. On asking if they had run away
from Kentucky, one of them answered in the affirmative, and replied,
laughingly, I suppose you have also run away. A great many people of
colour are settled in the Western parts of Upper Canada, almost all of
whom are runaway slaves from the United States.
On the morning of the 5th September we left Chatham for Bear creek,
under the guidance of Mr John Goose, who owned a property on the banks
of the Thames, four miles below Chatham, inherited from his father, who
was one of the original settlers. Mr Goose was a sensible, well-informed
man, of a weakly constitution, and had let his farm on shares to a
Yankee, by which he obtained half the produce for his labour. Mr Goose
rode a brown mare, with a filly foal running at her feet, in the
language of the country styled a colt, a term applied to the young of
the mares, without regard to sex. My friend C—— and I rode chestnuts, or
sorrels, without shoes, the reins were stout ropes, and the saddles
without panels or girths. On, however, we jogged up the Thames, and
crossed over to Bear creek, which we reached about four o’clock, and got
some refreshment at the house of Mr Goose’s brother-in-law, whom we
found sowing wheat. The ostensible object of our journey was to examine
some lots of land which had been offered us by letter in the township of
Dawne, and regarding the situation of which we could not obtain
information till arriving on the creek, when we learned it was in the
opposite direction where we were, and so swampy that no person could
live on it. We then commenced descending the stream, and passed the
night with Mr B——, friend to Mr Goose, sleeping soundly on the floor.
Next morning, we descended the creek four or five miles below, where its
waters are on a level with those of Lake St Clair, and crossed over to
the Thames, which we passed below Chatham in a canoe, swimming the
horses by its side. Here we parted with Mr Goose, much pleased with his
conduct, paying him $4, or 16s. 8d. sterling, for the services of three
horses and himself two days.
The soil, on the banks of the Thames, varies from soft sand to strong
clay, and may generally be termed heavy loam. Our first and most
easterly line from the Thames to Bear creek was poor sand, gradually
improving to fine loam on approaching the creek. The banks of the creek
showed the richest description of sandy loam; and much of what is termed
bottom land, more especially above Mr B——’s property, is perhaps too
rich for first crops. This richest of land, extending to both sides of
the creek, and containing a thousand acres, was unoccupied, for sale,
and could have been bought at about $3 per acre. Our lower line, from
Bear creek to the Thames, was invariably fine loam.
I consider the soil on the banks of the Thames, around Chatham, superior
to what I saw on Bear creek, from containing a greater portion of clay;
both are, however, excellent, and objectionable only on account of their
lowness, and proximity to the marshy plains around Lake St Clair, though
only ten or twelve feet above its waters, yet twenty miles distant from
its shore. The forest exhibited few cradle knolls, which proves the soil
of stronger texture than that of Blenheim, Wilmot, or the neighbourhood
of Goderich, cradle knolls being a sure indication of sand, except where
trees are prostrated by a whirlwind or hurricane.
The agriculture of the Thames and Bear creek do not merit much notice.
Bear creek, and the country between it and the Thames, is very thinly
settled, and the clearances of small extent. The habitations are mean,
and the inhabitants seemingly poor, and without enterprise or industry.
The chief market has hitherto been Detroit, and the population have, in
a great measure, been shut out from the rest of the world. Mr B—— told
me thirty bushels of wheat have been given for a bushel of salt—now five
is the price. I did not see a clearance of any extent going on, while
some portion of rich cleared soil had been abandoned or neglected; and
when overgrown with weeds, and destitute of grass, exhibited complete
sterility. Natural clover of any kind was not visible, nor had the seeds
of any been sown. The settlers had never applied any manure, and seemed
to lead easy lives. The wheat harvest was gathered previous to my visit.
Buck wheat was uniformly a poor crop, being injured by drought, and in
many cases also by frost. Indian corn was by no means good. A field of
barley on Bear creek, as the first crop on bottom land, was destroyed by
mildew. A portion of millet on the same field was uninjured, and the
only instance in which I have seen such a crop.
Bear creek is a small stream, about half the size of the Thames, and
propels two grist mills, and a third at Mr B——’s is being erected. We
examined the lowest mill; the water-power was not economically applied;
the house without a door; the machinery entirely of wood; and the whole
erection a bauble of the worst construction. There were perhaps fifty
small parcels of wheat for grinding in the mill, and six or seven people
were waiting to carry away their flour. This mill cannot make marketable
flour at present, and its undurable construction may be considered
fortunate for settlers. Grist mills are much wanted in the country, none
being effective on the Thames, and I was told wheat has actually come
from Michigan to be ground at this wretched mill.
The river Thames, the letters of which are invariably pronounced soft by
the inhabitants of the country, is of small size, incapable of moving
machinery for want of fall, and when seen by me, perhaps not more than
equal to the power of a grist mill with one good pair of stones, if fall
could be obtained. The banks are low and uninteresting. The water is on
a level with Lake St Clair, and is navigable five miles above Chatham.
Having entered the houses of many of the settlers on Bear creek and the
Thames, and observed the countenances of hundreds of people seen on
roads and in fields, I was particularly struck with the sallow, dried,
and sickly appearance of the inhabitants. Perhaps, in the course of
three days’ travelling, I did not meet half-a-dozen of healthy-looking
individuals;—a recently-imported old-countryman could always be
distinguished by his complexion, and often, also, by his portliness of
figure. While speaking on this subject, Mr Goose did not like the
chuncky (stout) appearance of Britons, and could not comprehend why the
skin of their faces seemed to creep like Muscovado sugar. Ague was
evidently not a stranger to the country; and a lodger in the tavern at
Chatham was suffering under the complaint.
Chatham is on the south bank of the Thames. Twelve months ago it was
said to contain only five or six houses; now there are nearly twenty. It
is visited by steam-boats; and from being situated at what may be termed
the head of the Thames navigation, it is certain of rising at no distant
day. There is a rumour of making Chatham, instead of Sandwich, the seat
of the district courts, which would be a more convenient situation; but
the growth of Chatham seems to be independent of this alteration.
After parting with Mr Goose, and dining at Chatham hotel, kept by Mr
Cartier, a French Canadian, and who was enlarging his house from an
increase of business, we engaged Israel Williams, a man of colour, who
owned an excellent farm in the vicinity of Chatham, to carry us with a
waggon and pair of horses south to Lake Erie, and round the lake and
Detroit river to Sandwich.
Two roads led to Lake Erie, one by what was called the town line, and
another across the plains. Having heard much of the plains from Mr
Goose, who said all the farmers in the neighbourhood cut hay from them,
and that a squatter had been successful in growing crops, although
considered barren, I was anxious to see the plains; and accordingly took
them on our way to the lake, although Israel Williams had never
travelled the road.
We left Chatham about half-past nine, and soon reached the plains, two
miles north of Chatham. At the east end, where we passed through, they
consist of an area between two and three miles wide, and as far as the
eye could reach to the westward, destitute of trees, except small spots
here and there, bearing shrubs and stunted trees of various sizes, and
which resembled islands in a lake. A number of dwarfish willows were
growing in most places, and the grass consisted chiefly of two species,
which occasionally reached the horses’ ears. A number of beautiful
flowering plants adorned the plains, but being thoroughly wet, and rain
falling heavily at the time, my botanizing zeal abated, and I contented
myself with adding the seeds of four or five to my collection, gathered
without descending from the waggon. Williams missed the tract leading
into the forest on the south side of the plains, which we perambulated
for upwards of an hour, till reaching a house, containing a ragged,
dirty, and miserable looking family, a boy of which acted as our guide
till entering the forest. We reached what the people of the country call
Frogmore-street, a newly opened road leading from Sandwich; from which
we were directed to Lake Erie, but missing our way a second time, it was
about sunset before we came in sight of the lake, having been nine hours
in travelling a distance of twelve miles.
When emerging from the woods on Lake Erie, we passed a camp-meeting of
the Jacksonite Methodists, which I felt no inclination to visit. On
enquiring to be directed to the nearest tavern, I was told there was not
a tavern on the road for thirty miles, but that almost any farmer would
receive us for the night.
Our first three or four applications for accommodation were
unsuccessful, the houses being filled with the attendants of the
camp-meeting; but we at last gained admittance to the house of John
Macdonald, from Appin, Argyleshire, Scotland. Application had in this
solitary instance been made by Williams, and John reluctantly consented
to receive us, under the impression we were people of colour like
Williams. John was surprised to find us of the same complexion as
himself, and still more so when I said he must be a countryman of mine,
from his dialect as a Scotchman. He put a thousand questions about my
visit to the country and the state of Scotland, and when satisfied that
I was not an impostor, his joy seemed unbounded. John was a true Scotch
Highlander in every respect, and spoke the English language in the comic
purity, if I may use the expression, of his countrymen,—his phrases of
“her nainsell,” and “gosh, man,” being as fresh as if from Appin the day
before. I enjoyed his originality, and admired his warmth of heart,
amply displayed in anecdotes of his past life, which he continued to
relate long after we went to bed.
Next morning I walked over John’s farm, consisting of 200 acres of most
excellent land, forty of which had been cleared in fourteen years,
during which he had not applied any manure, and which I testify had not
accumulated to an inconvenient degree. His Indian corn was about the
best crop I saw in Canada, with exception of some belonging to the
Indians on the Grand River. The quality of his wheat was excellent, and
part of his farm carried this crop and peas alternately; the extent of
wheat being limited to the assistance he could obtain during harvest.
John had two sons on adjoining farms, in the same state as their
father’s, and a third who had lately married, lived with him. John had
twelve acres of good land, which had been gradually cleared in obtaining
timber for different purposes, and which a week’s work of his son would
render fit for cultivation; yet it had remained for years in a state of
comparative unproductiveness. He wondered at me not having tasted unripe
Indian corn, on which every creature, he said, lived in this country, as
they did on herrings in the west of Scotland during the season; and he
roasted two ears for me, which I did not highly relish. John’s house was
very mean-looking, and he accounted for it by the want of saw-mills in
this part of the country, which rendered boards dear.
We left John Macdonald after breakfast, and travelled to Colborne
Iron-works, in the township of Gossfield, and had a late and
uncomfortable dinner where the workmen board. A bed was obtained for us
at the house of Messrs Calhoum and Field, proprietors of the
works,—which was a log-house of recent erection, plain and rough,
externally and internally.
The furnace had been burnt down a few weeks before our arrival, and all
hands were engaged in reconstructing it. The whole erection, with
exception of the fireplace and chimneystalk, was composed of wood, and
one of the most temporary buildings it is possible to conceive. The bed
of ore lies in a marsh a mile and a half distant, and is what is called
bog-ore, one or two feet thick, with six inches of peat-earth on the
surface; and I was assured by Mr Field that the earth thrown aside two
years ago was now fruitful of ore. The iron-work is expected to consume
the coke of nearly 200 acres of forest yearly; and the company would
clear any farmer’s woodland for the coke it produced. This may be worth
the notice of settlers, and is given from Mr Field’s statement.
We examined some land for sale in the neighbourhood of the iron-works
before breakfast; after partaking of which, we travelled a few miles
south, to the shores of Lake Erie, round which we passed to
Amherstburgh, which we reached in the evening.
Williams had at one time resided at Amherstburgh, and landed us at what
he considered the best house, kept by Mrs Drake, which was a large old
dingy uninhabited looking tenement. Mrs Drake was seated with Mr M—— at
tea, or supper, as it is generally called, on our arrival, which suited
us well, as we had not dined,—a brace of roasted ducks being on the
table.
After tea, we walked down the banks of the Detroit river and Lake Erie
four or five miles, and returned through the fields, at some distance
from our former line. The evening was clear, calm, and delightfully
cool; the still glassy lake adorned with beautiful wooded islands, the
American steam-boats, with music playing and unfurled sails,
majestically ascending the limped and smooth-gliding Detroit, together
with the gracefulness of vegetation and richness of soil, so enchanted
us, that we resolved, contrary to our original intention, to devote
another day to the neighbourhood of Amherstburgh.
Next morning, Williams drove us up the banks of the Detroit, till we
reached the bridge crossing the Canrad, where we parted with him.
Ascending the Canrad a little way, we turned to the right, up a flat
piece of ground, in the centre of which there is a small brook, and
where we spent some hours agreeably in examining plants, and adding to
our collection of seeds. We returned through the lands belonging to the
Huron Indians to Amherstburgh, and in the evening extended our walk in
the direction we had passed the night before.
We left Amherstburgh soon after sunrise, to walk by Sandwich to the town
of Detroit, and breakfasted by the way at a small inn with a French
sign. The innkeeper had very little English, and we found some
difficulty in understanding each other. Our fare consisted of poor green
tea, bad butter, and worse bread. There was a fireplace in the kitchen,
which was without furniture, except a table and chairs. The room was
well lighted, and separated from the kitchen by a partition of lath,
without plaster of any kind. There were two beds in the room without top
or posts, with fine rich old printed bedcovers and pillowslips of the
same, clean and neatly arranged. The upper story was accessible by a
ladder. The father told me his family consisted of six children; the
mother and two children had died a few weeks before. The children are at
school; the masters seldom remain long, being too fond of whisky.
We arrived at the ferry opposite to Detroit about noon, which we crossed
by a steam-boat of small size which plies every quarter of an hour, and
took up our abode at an excellent hotel.
CHAPTER XXII.
_Horse Hiring—French Inn—Negro Family—Prairie—Supplied with Oats—Mouth
of the Thames—Elephant—Yorkshiremen—Want of Conveyance—Old
Settler—Prairie—Face of the Country and Soil—Notices of French
Inhabitants and their Agriculture—Huron Indians and their
Agriculture—Royalists and their Agriculture—Notices of
Nature—Detroit River—Amherstburgh—Sandwich—Ferry—Detroit._
My friend C—— sailed from Detroit for Buffalo on the 12th September, and
next day I commenced a tour into the Western United States, from which I
returned again to Detroit, and spent a few days in Canada.
With a view of keeping a connected account of Canada, I shall take up my
proceedings on the 18th October, on the morning of which I crossed from
Detroit to the British side of the river, on which there is situated a
good many houses of different descriptions, with the view of obtaining a
horse to proceed to Chatham on the Thames, a distance of fifty miles.
Being refused by three different people who kept horses for hire, on
what appeared to me frivolous pretences, and thinking they might be
afraid of me leaving the horse, and escaping to the States, I offered to
deposit the value of the horse with the owner before setting out on the
journey. To this arrangement one individual out of the three consented,
but demanded for the use of his horse the same hire as if he himself and
a pair of horses had accompanied me, as he could not employ himself and
the other in my absence. Under these circumstances I returned to
Detroit, where I readily obtained a horse, which I entered at the
customhouse before setting out on my journey, and again on my return, or
rather paid the fees at once. I am not sure if it is absolutely
necessary to enter a horse at the customhouse on crossing the Detroit
river; and at the time suspected it was as much with the view of
obtaining the fees, as complying with law, the owner of the horse
requested me to apply at the customhouse with which he was connected.
The road from the town of Detroit, or rather Sandwich, which is on the
Canadian side of the river Detroit, to Chatham, passes along the margin
of Lake St Clair and the river Thames, and is the chief line of
communication with the most westerly and other parts of Canada; yet
except in the neighbourhood of Detroit and Chatham, I could not obtain
oats or Indian corn to feed my horse. My first application was at the
door of a newly erected house on Lake St Clair, in which I observed two
young men through the window, and a voice answered to come round to the
other door, on tapping at which I was told to come in, and on lifting
the latch I found three men and two women, none of whom rose from their
seats, or could tell me where my horse could be fed. At length I came to
a house near the mouth of the Thames, with a French signpost at the
door, where I stopt for an hour, my horse getting only coarse marsh hay.
This inn is situated on a ridge of sand thrown up by the lake, and about
two feet above its waters; the surrounding country, for miles on all
sides, being a marsh and destitute of inhabitants, another unoccupied
house being a few hundred yards distant. Here a Canadian Frenchwoman of
prepossessing appearance resided, and who spoke the English language
tolerably well. Her husband died the previous year of cholera, and a
young man who assisted her since, died a week or two before my arrival,
of small-pox, and two girls were then just recovering from the same
complaint. She told me a traveller had scarcely entered her door for
seven weeks, and there was no one to fetch her oats and other
necessaries. My poor horse, which was the roughest-motioned creature I
ever bestrode, became tired, and I was anxious to shorten his journey as
much as possible.
I called on Mr John Goose, with whom I travelled to Bear creek a month
before, and who resided on the Thames, four miles below Chatham. He was
in the woods bringing home firewood, and was momentarily expected, so I
gave my horse some of his hay, and walked out to meet him. Mr Goose
readily recognised me; and on learning my intention of wishing to pass
the night at his house, on account of the tired state of my horse, was
informed, he himself would be happy to receive me, but his wife was not
fond of seeing strangers at present when small-pox were rife in the
country, his family never having had the disease, or been vaccinated.
Knowing the situation in which I had been a few hours before, I did not
urge the matter with Mr Goose, although not a thorough disciple of the
school of infection, and taking my wearied horse in my hand, proceeded
onwards.
I called on Israel Williams, in whose stable I left my horse, and walked
on to Mr Cartier’s inn, Chatham, where I passed the night. On enquiring
for Israel’s horses, Pape and Jerry, which carried me round Lake Erie
last month, he told me, that, when swimming Pape across the Thames about
ten days ago in a canoe, he sunk like a stone, and remained under water
two hours, having been, he supposed, seized with cramp. Williams was a
runaway negro from the State of Virginia, a smart, active, stout little
fellow, in good circumstances, having several stacks of wheat, and six
or seven horses of different ages. I was asked to go into his house and
see his wife Juliana, who was as stout and glossy black as any negro
could desire. They had five or six fine curly-haired children of the
same complexion as themselves, none of whom had been at school, as the
teacher could not receive children of colour without displeasing his
white employers.
Next morning, immediately after breakfast, I rode to the plains which I
formerly crossed in a waggon, and, under the guidance of the squatter Mr
Cass, had an opportunity of giving them a hurried examination. The
plains of Chatham are, beyond all doubt, prairie, extending from Lake St
Clair on both sides of the Thames. The east end of the prairie, next to
Chatham, is variable soil, embracing sand of different colours, and clay
of all textures, generally wet, and seemingly capable of being drained
into the river. The wood islands are small, the grass in some parts very
luxuriant, and several of the plants similar to those on the Michigan
prairies. On advancing westward, the soil improves, and some parts are
clay of the first quality. The grass on much of this prairie is four
feet high, and as thick as it can stand; no part of Illinois seems
richer.
No part of this prairie is cultivated; it is so little above the level
of Lake St Clair, that it is doubtful if it can be drained, and much of
it at present indicates wetness. I was anxious to ascertain the
practicability of draining the prairie; but well-informed people at
Sandwich and Detroit told me, instruments for levelling could not be
obtained nearer than New York, and all streams being dry, there were no
means of approximating the point. Some of the farmers on the Thames
maintained there was no difficulty in the matter, and all mentioned Lake
Erie, and not St Clair, as the outlet. I had no opportunity of forming
an opinion on the subject, but if the drainage can only be effected by
Lake Erie, the undertaking will be far too expensive for a private
individual; and, in the present circumstances of Canada, not likely to
repay a company for the outlay.
Lake St Clair, and the other lakes connected with the river St Lawrence,
do not rise and fall by floods and droughts like ordinary collections of
water in other parts of the world, yet it is subject to variations at
distant periods; and this, I believe, has not been satisfactorily
accounted for. The Frenchwoman who keeps the inn at the mouth of the
Thames told me the lake was lower now than she had ever known it, and
had been falling for years past. She said it continued to rise for years
formerly, and drove people from the houses she pointed out, at some
distance on the prairie, and thought it now eighteen inches below its
highest level. This change of elevation on the lake might affect the
prairie, even when drained.
The grass on the margin of the prairie near the Thames, and more
especially in the neighbourhood of French church, six or seven miles
from the junction of the river with Lake St Clair, is of the richest
description, having a large portion of white clover, and cropped as
short as teeth could make it. Yet the animals of all descriptions
roaming on it were small, lean, stunted-looking creatures. This, in some
measure, may have been owing to their respective breeds, but I could not
resist auguring unfavourably of the land from the poverty of the animals
grazing on it.
On leaving the prairie I found my horse getting tired; and on applying
to a farmer on the banks of the Thames, he readily consented to furnish
oats, for which he would not accept of payment. I also was asked into
his house, and partook of his hospitality. I could not with propriety
enquire the gentleman’s name, but learned his farm was Lot tenth, of
Concession first. I need not, through this medium, ask him to accept of
my thanks, however grateful I may feel, as there is little chance of his
seeing or hearing of my lucubrations.
I reached the inn at the mouth of the Thames, where I remained for the
night, getting a clean and good bed, fried pork morning and evening, and
acting as my own ostler. In the morning I walked over a considerable
extent of the shores of Lake St Clair, and the mouth of the Thames. The
soil is exceedingly poor, and so wet that animals cannot walk over much
of it. Here I saw the Thames steam-boat coming down the river from
Chatham, which had a singular appearance when viewed from the prairie,
the river being about two feet below the surface, the ground so
perfectly level, and without an object of any kind, that the vessel
seemed gliding on land.
I left the inn after breakfast, and reached Detroit in the afternoon,
with my horse nearly done up. By the way I met an elephant walking on
the road towards Chatham, covered with canvass, and attended by two men
on horseback. A waggon led the cavalcade, in which I was told there was
a lion and some other animals. The exhibiting of animals must yet be an
indifferent trade in Canada, when population is so thin and poor.
I met many old-country Yorkshiremen at Detroit. The ostler who received
my horse was from that county; a flash fellow, strutting the streets
with a scarlet frock coat, collar and pocketlids of black velvet, with
top boots and buckskins, was a Yorkshire tailor; and a Yorkshireman was
entertaining many listeners in the bar-room of the hotel while dinner
was preparing for me, having arrived after the regular hour. This
character was dressed in his smock-coat, with tight lacing boots and
leggans, as if from his native country a minute before, and was telling
cock-and-bull stories about his shooting feats with Lord Liverpool and
other great men, as their companion. His language, dress, and appearance
formed a striking contrast to the grave, thoughtful-looking Americans,
who did not make a remark or alter an expression of countenance
indicating their opinion of Yorky; yet they seemed to be eyeing him with
a keenness, as if measuring the strength and depth of his character.
After partaking of dinner, I recrossed the river to the Canadian side,
walked over some French settlements, and passed the night at Sandwich.
The hotel was a poor, dirty, ill-finished place, and more especially the
sleeping part of it. Here I met with two gentlemen of the village, whose
conversation was of considerable use to me.
Next morning it was my intention to have visited a new settlement, four
miles to the east of Sandwich, but I was unable to obtain a horse or
conveyance of any kind in this metropolis of Western Canada. The people
of the hotels do not in the least degree interest themselves in the
proceedings of travellers, and knew of no one likely to hire his horses
or waggon. I, however, applied to several French inhabitants without
effect; and the day being wet I had no alternative but to walk down the
banks of the river to Amherstburgh, where, with the assistance of Mrs
Drake, I got the use of a pony from Mr Obrion at a dollar a-day.
Nothing could exceed the wretched equipment of the pony, which was a
good one if it had been in condition. But it had run on the common and
in the wood until caught for my use; its mane was almost a solid mass of
burs, and its hairs so covered with eggs of the bot-fly, that they
almost changed the colour of the animal. It was without shoes; the
saddle, without girths, was held in its position by a belt passing over
it; the stirrups and bridle harmonizing with the saddle.
In the first instance I rode over part of the Huron Indian Reserve with
Mr Clark, who had married a squaw of the Huron tribe, by whom he had a
family, being originally an American, and having lived in comfort, since
the time of his marriage, on the Huron lands. Returning again to
Amherstburgh, I rode down the shore of Lake Erie, after dinner, to Mr
——’s, where I arrived about dusk. There was no stable for my pony, and
it was turned into a field to shift for itself. Mr —— was unfortunately
from home, and not expected for some days. I found this old settler, who
had been born in the country, living pretty much in the style of those
who had recently set themselves down, and I partook of homely fare, and
slept on the floor. Here I met with a military gentleman of
intelligence, whose name is connected with a beautiful island on Lake
Simcoe, and who was in search of a desirable lot of land to fix on, to
which he was entitled by his services. He expressed a wish to have my
assistance in the selection, and offered such terms, that nothing but
want of time, and the advanced period of the season, prevented my
accepting.
Next morning I rose by daybreak, and caught my pony, on which I rode to
the hotel at the shipping place of Colborne iron works, kept by Mr Faux,
from whom I hired a horse, to save my pony, for returning to
Amherstburgh in the afternoon. I rode on Mr Faux’s horse to a prairie
some miles to the east of the iron works, which I had heard spoken of in
high terms, and which I observed at some distance a month before. This
prairie was understood to be for sale, and I called on the proprietor,
who was a kind, well-informed old gentleman, showing me personally over
the land, and regretting my inability to dine with him.
I found the prairie in question to consist of peat earth, about a foot
in thickness, on a wet sandy subsoil, intermingled with marl, which I
was able to distinguish by the aid of a spade, and test by vinegar. It
was of small size, very picturesque, and not likely to repay the expense
of draining.
I again mounted the pony at Mr Faux’s hotel, and reached Amherstburgh in
the evening, having examined four farms that were for sale in course of
my excursion. Time was now pressing me; and being anxious to see an
individual in Sandwich, and a form in the neighbourhood, I engaged Mr
Obrion to take me early in the morning to Sandwich in a cart.
I called Mr Obrion out of bed some time after the hour he appointed to
meet me, and he was so long in getting every thing put to rights, that I
walked over the common on foot. He, however, soon overtook me; but
declining to go beyond a pace faster than I could walk, I leapt from the
cart, and proceeded on foot, breakfasting at a French inn, stopping at
Sandwich two hours, and bidding adieu to Canada, by crossing over to
Detroit about noon.
Having, on my different visits to Canada, passed completely round the
peninsula formed by the Thames river, Lake St Clair, Detroit river, and
Lake Erie, I shall describe the face of the country through which I
passed.
On leaving Chatham for the south, the soil from that place to Lake Erie,
with exception of the plains already noticed, was clay of excellent
quality, the surface level, and apparently wet near the margin. In
passing up the shores of the lake, the soil was variable, being
sometimes clay, and sometimes sand, the latter greatly preponderating.
Some parts of the lake shore were unsettled, and scarcely a recent
clearance was discernible. In the townships of Tilbury and Marsea, some
farms had been deserted, which had a most barren aspect, being overrun
with weeds, and scarcely producing a blade of grass.
The surface in the township of Gosfield, near the iron-works, differs
from any seen in the peninsula, being undulating, and, in the language
of the place, a handsome country. The land is not of the best quality,
and for the first time in Canada, I walked over a gravelly soil.
The townships of Colchester and Maldon are not much above the level of
the lake, and the road passes through a sandy soil generally, and
sometimes thin clay of bad quality. In the former there are oak
openings, the soil of which is poor sand. The soil of Maldon seems
superior to that of Colchester, and improves, on approaching
Amherstburgh, to the finest quality. In both townships there are a good
many people of colour, who generally rent the farms on which they
reside, or obtain so many years’ possession, on condition of clearing a
certain extent of wood. A considerable quantity of tobacco is here
grown, chiefly by the black population.
The country from Chatham to Lake Erie in the township of Tilbury, and
round the lake to Amherstburgh, seems badly watered, not having seen
above two rills passing into the lake. In Colchester and Maldon, there
are occasionally stagnant branches of the lake, like canals or channels
of a stream, jutting into the land to a considerable distance, and which
I was told terminate in swamps, and prove the greatest, if not the only,
natural objection to the country.
About a mile from Amherstburgh, on the river Detroit, commences a tract
of country known by the name of the Huron Reserve, extending seven miles
along the banks of the river, and seven miles back from it.
For the first four miles of this Reserve, in passing from Amherstburgh,
the river, which is here perhaps the most beautiful in the world, is
upwards of twenty feet below its banks, the soil a rich crumbling clay,
and is one of the loveliest spots in Canada. Above this, the banks sink
to the level of the river, and there is an extensive tract, six or seven
miles in length, and two or three in breadth, covered with tall aquatic
plants, which impart a pestilential aspect to the country, and must form
one of the best nurseries in the world for ducks and mosquittoes. On
approaching Sandwich, the banks again rise above the river, and maintain
their elevation until a little above the ferry at Detroit.
From the termination of the Huron Reserve to Sandwich, the soil on the
river is inferior, and the road, on entering the village, passes through
what has originally been an oak opening of poor gravelly soil, and is
still covered with oak bushes, intermingled with inferior pasturage.
Above Sandwich the soil is good on the banks, and continues so as long
as the elevation above the river is maintained. This part of the country
is inhabited by the descendants of the French, and not a trace of the
original forest remains.
A mile or two above the ferry at Detroit, and approaching Lake St Clair,
the banks are low, and tracts of marsh fall back into the country.
Around Lake St Clair there is some tolerable soil, elevated about two
feet above its waters, and a small wet prairie or two, besides that at
the mouth of the Thames. There are few settlers, scarcely a vestige of
cultivation, and one or two recent clearings of insignificant extent.
The banks of the river Thames are nearly on a level with the waters of
Lake St Clair, and gradually rise on approaching Chatham, where they are
fifteen or twenty feet high. They have long been cleared of the forest,
descendants of French settlers residing below, and those of British
Loyalists above. Both classes of inhabitants seem to cultivate only what
is necessary to supply their wants, and have made no inroads on the
forest or prairie for many years. The extent of cultivated land is
limited, and everywhere celebrated in Canada as the best in the world.
The soil on the south banks of the Thames, from Chatham to its mouth,
varies from the finest brown-coloured loam to indifferent sand, the
former being of limited extent. I do not mean to damn this favourite
spot with faint praise, but while I admit there is some loam as good as
man could wish, I contend it is not generally of such a description. No
competent judge of soil need remain long in doubt on this point who
visits the situation, and I shall only particularize a field above Mr
John Goose’s house, which was being fallowed when I was there, and which
I pronounce not good soil. The state of the crops might be adduced in
evidence of my opinion, especially that of Indian corn, which was not
equal to that on some parts of the shore of Lake Erie, more especially
that belonging to John Macdonald.
Of the land in the interior of the Peninsula, I am unable to speak, with
exception of what was seen passing from Chatham to Lake Erie, and which
I found of superior quality. I have already noticed that few running
streams join Lake Erie, and the same remark is applicable to Detroit
river and Lake St Clair. Several rivers are laid down on maps as flowing
into the south side of Lake St Clair, but at the time of my visit the
mouths of all of them, with a single exception, were closed with sand on
the margin of the lake; and I could not determine whether their waters
filtered through the sand bars into the lake, or those of the lake into
the channels or canals running into the land.
The greater part of the inhabitants in and around Amherstburgh and
Sandwich, the banks of Detroit river, Lake St Clair, and the mouth of
the Thames, are descendants of the French who settled in this part of
the country about the year 1670. They still retain the language,
appearance, and many of the customs of their ancestors. Like the Lower
Canadians, they seldom engage in commerce or manufactures, and settle
together on long narrow lots of land, in streets or villages, and cut
down every forest tree. In Lower Canada the French population have no
orchards, except on the sides of the mountain at Montreal, but here
almost every settler on the Detroit river has an orchard. I did not
observe in the gardens of the French a single pear, plum, or peach-tree,
but apples were very abundant, and cider-presses frequently met with.
The inhabitants do not seem so light-hearted or polite a people as those
of the lower province. They do not notice strangers in passing, and I
only observed two boys bow to me at Sandwich, while every man, woman,
and child does so in the neighbourhood of Montreal. The houses are
generally brick, and occasionally frame, but seldom with the stone
basement of the lower province. The beds of the inhabitants are
sometimes without, and sometimes with, posts and curtains, and, in every
case which came under my notice, very clean.
On some parts of the river Detroit, Lake St Clair, and on the Thames,
many people reside literally amongst water, passing to and from their
houses on planks.
The French Canadians are said to be averse to clearing forest land, and
perhaps as population increases, they prefer occupying swamps to
clearing dry land. The appearance of the inhabitants residing in such
situations was unhealthy. Around Lake St Clair, the inhabitants seem to
be employed in preparing firewood for the town of Detroit.
The French inhabitants have a great dislike to service of any kind, and
more especially to females going out as cooks. The women seem
industrious, and often drive the produce of the farm to market in carts.
Some children were seen running about in their shirts, as in Lower
Canada, even when the weather was cold.
The French seem to have little system in their farming, growing wheat,
Indian corn, and grass. They plough with oxen and a driver. The sheep
are similar to those of the lower province, many of them being
black-coloured, with a little white on the face and neck. The oxen are
of different colours, somewhat larger than those of Lower Canada, and
many of them are without horns. The horses are small, and perhaps not
equal to those of Montreal.
In several instances I examined a machine with which the French
inhabitants were thrashing out grain. This was a beam twelve or fifteen
feet in length, with projecting spars like the spokes of a wheel,
resting on the ground at one end, and rising with an elevation to suit
the draught of a horse at the other. The lower end of the beam was
without spars, which increased in length according to the elevation. As
the horse moves in a circle, the beam revolves, which brings the spars
successively in contact with the grain spread on the floor, and by which
means it was beat out from the straw.
This mode of separating grain from straw is evidently the first step
from treading it out by animals, and is, perhaps, as old as the flail.
An economizer of labour would have strewed the gangway of the horse with
grain, so that it might have assisted in the operation, by treading with
its feet. I have not been able to learn if this plan is known in France,
or any other part of the world. It has not been adopted by the Americans
or British Canadians, although it must be an assistance to, if not
calculated to supersede, the treading of animals.
The Huron tribe of Indians, residing near Amherstburgh, are few in
number, extending only to ten or twelve families, and from their long
intercourse with Europeans, most of the present generation seem to have
a mixture of white blood in them. They have long been Christians in
connexion with the Catholic church, and have adopted most of the habits
of civilized life. They have orchards, numerous herds of cattle, horses
and pigs; the cattle being the best I saw in the western part of Canada,
and which I attribute to the superiority of the pasturage. On the 24th
October, I observed a Huron Indian harrowing sown wheat with a
triangular harrow on as well formed ridges as any I saw in Canada.
The Huron Indians were understood to have sold part of their reserve in
the neighbourhood of Amherstburgh to the British Government. Mr M—— had
been appointed to survey the purchase, and with this view was residing
at Amherstburgh during the time of my first visit. The Indians, under
some pretext, would not, however, allow the measurement to proceed, and
Mr M—— got orders from York to delay the survey.
The inhabitants of Amherstburgh are anxious, almost clamorous, to have
the Huron Reserve, in the vicinity of the village, exposed for public
settlement, which would, in all probability, promote its increase and
prosperity. It is not my intention to enter into the merits of the
policy of removing the Huron Indians from their situation on the
southern part of their territory. But in the event of the lands falling
into the possession of the present inhabitants of Amherstburgh and its
vicinity, I question if the change would be for the better, as the
landholders seem incapable of managing or appreciating the great
advantages nature hath placed within their reach. The white man strongly
displays the frailty of his nature in envying this remnant of his
copper-coloured brother’s inheritance, while so many millions of acres
in Canada are unoccupied.
A considerable portion of the inhabitants on Lake Erie, in the townships
of Maldon, Colchester, and the banks of the Thames, are descendants of
the Royalists who left the States at the time of their becoming
independent, and who obtained grants of land in Canada from the British
Government. Like other colonists in this vast continent, who have been
shut out in a great measure from intercourse with the world, they have
been content to live without an apparent desire to improve their
condition. Their extent of clear forest is limited, and few additions
have recently been made. The dwelling-houses and farm-offices are of the
shabbiest kind, and only two brick houses were seen in a distance of
twenty-seven miles, passing from Amherstburgh round Lake Erie. A brick
house is also a rare sight on the Thames, wood being almost the only
building material.
In this part of Canada, farming is as low as in newly settled districts,
and embraces the cultivation of wheat, oats, peas, Indian corn, and
tobacco—wheat and Indian corn being the chief crops. In many instances
wheat had been sown amongst growing Indian corn, and ploughed in between
the drills. This is an excellent plan, the wheat being well advanced
when the Indian corn is reaped. Oxen are employed in ploughing
generally, and all operations are performed in a superficial manner. I
observed a crop of buck-wheat being carried in the township of Gosfield,
on 24th October. Two horses were attached to a sleigh, and two men on
the ground were building small sheaves on the sleigh with their hands,
neither of them having a pitchfork. A trifling load was taken off the
field, attended by the two men already mentioned; and after being upset,
a man and two boys placed it in the barn. The carrying of this crop
would have been effected at one-fourth of the labour in Scotland, where
the division of farm labour is properly understood. Extensive orchards
are everywhere met with, and the crop of apples was immense, so much so,
that they sometimes remained ungathered. The horses, oxen, sheep, and
pigs in this part of Canada are all inferior in kind; and if such a
thing as a good sized horse can be found either for the saddle or
draught purposes, which I very much doubt, it must have come from the
States.
The implements of husbandry are such as are common to the country.
Several grist-mills are propelled by oxen walking on an inclined plane,
and are very poor machines. A good many grist-mills are also propelled
by wind, chiefly amongst the French inhabitants on the shores of Detroit
river and the lakes, and also some by oxen or horses attached to a large
wheel, moving horizontally a few inches from the ground. I was given to
understand a steam-power grist-mill was about to be erected at Sandwich,
by a capitalist lately arrived in the country, and I imagine will be
chiefly employed in grinding wheat from the States.
The trees do not materially differ from those in other parts of Canada,
with exception of sweet chestnut being common on the shores of Lake
Erie. This tree is generally found on poor sandy soil, and seems to
occupy the place of the pine in the districts to the north and east. In
passing round Lake St Clair, I thought I observed the pawpaw growing
near the commencement of Detroit river, but the plants being small, I
could not determine their identity. Future travellers may be better able
to settle this point, as I scattered some seeds of the pawpaw, which
were in my pocket, and which I gathered in Ohio a few days before.
The turkey is said to inhabit this district in considerable numbers, and
the boy who conducted us out of Chatham plains told me he had come on a
hen and her brood a short time before, but this bird was not seen by me.
The pheasant and quail are numerous, and so tame that you may approach
within a few yards of them on open ground. Ducks of various kinds
inhabit the waters, and more especially Detroit river, in vast numbers;
and many of the species are so tame, that, schoolboy like, I pelted them
with stones in open water without their taking wing. Several kinds of
geese also frequent the waters, but it is only in autumn, when they and
ducks congregate in such numbers, preparatory, perhaps, to moving south
for the winter.
Birds of prey are numerous. Near the mouth of the Thames I observed a
bald eagle perched on a decayed tree, and which was the only one I saw
in Canada. Buzzards were seen frequently, gliding gracefully in circles,
and in company, though at considerable distances from each other. Many
hawks of different sizes, and small eagles, were observed on the shore
of Lake Erie, sitting inactive on trees, or fighting with each other
about a favourite resting-place. On one occasion, near Chatham, a hawk
singled out a small bird for its quarry which frequents the banks of the
Thames, without the power of swimming. The little creature was above the
centre of the river when attacked, and avoided a death-blow by diving
under water with a shrill cry. It no sooner, however, left the element
than the hawk made a second swoop, which was again avoided by going
under water, and by a succession of dives and flights, it at last found
shelter amongst some bushes on the banks. There are vast numbers of what
are here called blackbirds, consisting of two kinds, and both highly
destructive to the farmer, devouring almost every species of produce,
and especially Indian corn; they breed amongst reeds, and find the
marshes of the Detroit an excellent cover. There are squirrels of
various kinds, striped, black, and brown; the former live in the ground,
and the two latter are occasionally shot and used as food. Racoons are
often hunted, and valued on account of their skins.
The river Detroit issues from Lake St Clair, and falls into Lake Erie,
after a south-west course of about twenty-eight miles. The waters of the
greatest lakes in the world, Superior, Huron, and Michigan, pass through
the channel of the Detroit, which, at the narrowest point, is about 800
yards wide, and above as well as below this place, expands several miles
in breadth. The current seems to run at a rate of between two and three
miles an hour, and the water is as limpid as that of the purest spring,
except when slightly tinged with earth, caused by the waves during a
tempest. The largest steam-vessels pass up at all times, and navies
might contend on its waters.
The village of Amherstburgh is situated near the confluence of Detroit
river with Lake Erie, opposite to a small island, between which and
Amherstburgh the main body of water passes. The houses are almost
entirely of wood, arranged into streets at right angles with each other,
and almost all bespeaking poverty and meanness. There are Catholic,
Episcopalian, and Presbyterian places of worship, besides schools, and
the population is about 500. Most of the inhabitants are of French
descent. Trade is very limited, and thought to be declining. Every
vessel passing up and down the Detroit comes within 100 yards of the
pier, which is at all times accessible to the largest class. Fort
Maldon, a paltry mud erection, is situated on the banks of the Detroit,
about half a mile from the village, and the military reserve around the
fort, which is the best of pasturage, is occupied as common.
Amherstburgh is one of the oldest places in Canada, situated in its
finest climate, the best British port on Lake Erie, and in beauty and
healthiness of situation, inferior to no place in America; yet every
thing, with exception of two handsome residences below the town, seems
in a state of listless decay. I have no doubt there are better days in
store for Amherstburgh.
Sandwich is also on the Detroit, sixteen miles above Amherstburgh, and
derives its only importance from being the county town. The houses
compose an irregular street, running along the river, and chiefly
occupied by French. The trade of Sandwich is more limited than that of
Amherstburgh, and I do not think it has the same chance of progressing.
About a mile and a half above Sandwich is the ferry at Detroit, at which
there are fifteen or twenty houses on the Canadian side of the river,
and several brick buildings were being erected at the time of my visit.
This place will soon eclipse Sandwich, and may rival Chatham. Detroit is
the great market of Western Canada, and the ferry possesses advantages,
in proximity and access during winter, above every other situation.
Since leaving Montreal, I had seen no place bearing the marks of age and
wealth, and the town of Detroit, situated on the magnificent river of
the same name, ranks next to that city in appearance; and in recalling
old-country associations, forms a striking contrast to the poverty and
lifelessness of Amherstburgh and Sandwich, on the opposite side of the
river. Lofty spires and large brick buildings are seen in the distance;
steam-vessels, and engine-stalks, employed in manufactures, on a near
approach. A fine large steam-boat leaves Detroit daily for Buffalo, and
smaller ones for less distant places on the north and south. Now and
then a steam-boat plys to Chicago and other places on Lake Michigan, and
in course of a year or two it is probable there will be a daily line of
boats. There are three streets running parallel to the river, and many
at right angles. The houses in the principal streets are of brick. The
population exceeds 3000 souls, the greater part of whom are of French
descent.
CHAPTER XXIII.
_Journey from Detroit to Chicago—Thrashing Machine—Face
of the Country in Michigan—Prairie Hen—White Pigeon
Prairie—Travelling Party—La Porte—Cooking Breakfast—Jaded
Horses—Thunder Storm—Hovel on the Shore of Lake Michigan—Face
of the Country—Notices of Nature—Chicago—Indian
Treaty—Horse-racing—Intoxication—Fair—Occurrences at Chicago._
On the 13th September, I left Detroit, early in the morning, in a stage
for Niles, which was drawn by four horses, and well filled with
passengers. We breakfasted at the distance of twelve miles, the hotel
being a solitary house, the name of which has escaped my memory.
Here I examined a thrashing-machine, worked by four horses, attached to
the ends of two rough poles moving two small horizontal wheels, a few
inches from the ground, round one of which was a leather belt moving in
a wood case, and connected with the drum or beater placed in the barn.
The machinery in the barn consisted simply of a beater, without rollers,
shaker, or fan. The board over which the grain slides to the beaters,
had a few upright spikes, which formed the only detaining power to the
grain while passing the beaters. This machine would not cost more than
L.8 sterling, but its imperfections in shaking and fanning, as well as
in beating out the grain, which I discovered on examination, render the
saving of first-cost injudicious.
Our roads, for the first stage or two, were very bad, and perhaps
affected the passengers, eight in number, who did not exchange
half-a-dozen words during the first day. In course of the second day, a
few short questions were put and answered, and on our arrival at Niles,
on the evening of the third day, nothing like familiar intercourse had
taken place.
Niles is a small place on the river St Josephs, and said to be twelve or
fourteen miles from Lake Michigan. In our route from Detroit, we had
passed through the territory of Michigan, in a south-westerly direction,
crossing most of the rivers, near their source, which flow into Lakes
Erie and Michigan; and I experienced considerable disappointment at the
general aspect of the country, which, with the exception of about
twenty-five miles next to Detroit, was found to consist of oak openings.
The soil is chiefly sand, and exhibits few marks of fertility. The trees
are stunted oaks, of about thirty feet in height, and so thinly
scattered, that a man may frequently clear an acre in a day. The surface
is gently undulating, and, from the thinness of the trees, and frequency
of streams, lakes, and fairies, highly picturesque. The lakes sometimes
assume the character of marshes, and many of them contained small
eminences, or islands, covered thickly with trees of a different species
from those growing on another, at a few yards distant, or on the margin
of the marsh. The district is still very thinly settled; and in passing
along, I wondered what had become of all the people who of late years
have been pouring into Michigan from the eastern states, forgetting the
extent of territory, and that it has become the common route for
settlers moving to the fertile and extensive tracts lying to the south
and west of Lake Michigan. The houses, with the exception of those in
villages, are mere log-huts.
We breakfasted at White Pigeon, on the third morning of our journey, at
a well-regulated hotel, where some broiled ruffed grouse, called, in the
language of the country, prairie-hen, was presented at table, and in
praise of which, some of our taciturn fellow-passengers became
loquacious. The particulars of the discussion may have been highly
valuable, but I was too busily employed in displaying my opinions by
actions, to note down the conversation.
White Pigeon is a small pretty village, composed of well-painted
frame-houses, and in neatness and apparent comfort resembling some of
the residences in New England. It is situated on the skirts of White
Pigeon prairie, one of the most beautiful and fertile prairies in
Michigan, and to which, perhaps, the whole territory is indebted for
much of its celebrity.
White Pigeon prairie is an interesting spot to those who have long
looked on the interminable forests and small clearances of Canada, being
a level surface of many miles extent, thickly interspersed with good
farm-houses and barns. To me the change was truly gratifying, and gave
rise to a thousand associations connected with other parts of the world.
An old farmer from New England, on his way to join a son in Illinois,
could not contain himself, and exclaimed,—“Surely this must have been
the place where Adam and Eve resided.”
On examining the soil of White Pigeon prairie, I found it composed of
black gritty sand, thickly interspersed with glittering particles of
spar. The inclosures were large, and without ridges. The crops had been
gathered, with the exception of Indian corn, which seemed good. The
weeds growing on the surface were of no great strength, amongst which
were two kinds of grass. I did not observe sown grasses or clovers, and
the latter does not grow naturally. It is said many English farmers are
settled on White Pigeon prairie, who have good thrashing-machines. There
is a small prairie to the east of White Pigeon, and a large one to the
west, through both of which we passed. These prairies do not seem fully
occupied, and the land is said to sell at from $3 to $6 per acre,
government price being $1¼.
The ruffed grouse, or prairie-hen, abounds on White Pigeon and the
adjoining prairies, to which some gentlemen resort for the purpose of
shooting. This bird resembles in colour the female pheasant of Britain,
and the black-cock in size and shape.
While walking in the garden of the hotel at White Pigeon, the experiment
I wished my friend to try in the Huron tract at Goderich, was made on
myself. A wasp stung me on the eyelid, and did not cause much pain, but
I cannot draw any inference from this regarding the properties of the
American wasp, as a sting from such insects in Britain did not create
inflammation at any period of my life.
At Niles we changed our stage-coach for an open waggon drawn by four
horses, which was the first time a regular stage had passed from Niles
to Chicago, the mail having hitherto been carried on horseback. The
waggon and horses were to carry us through all the way, as proper posts
and relays had not been established on the road. We breakfasted before
setting out, and a guide was sent with our driver.
Our travelling-party was somewhat changed from that which had come from
Detroit. Three of our original passengers remained; one an Englishman,
Mr L——, who had been twelve months in the western states, and now on his
way back, after an excursion to the southern and eastern states of the
Union, was accompanied by Mr D——, a young gentleman, who, from his
pronunciation of the English language, I imagined from Germany; the
third was W——, from Detroit, an officer in the United States army, and
the most prim individual I encountered in the course of my travels. He
seemed as if carrying the dignity and honour of the whole army on his
shoulders, and I could not help remarking how very repulsive he was to
his countrymen who ventured to address him. America may be the land of
liberty and equality, but, personally, no one seemed equal to Major W——,
and certainly liberty could not be taken with him. The rest of our
passengers consisted of an old revolutionary soldier and his wife, on
their way to join a son settled in Illinois, a Michigan farmer, myself,
waggoner, and guide.
The farmer was originally from York State, now settled on Nottawa Sepee
prairie, on St Joseph’s river, and proceeding to Chicago, where an
adjustment of Indian claims was taking place, in the hope of obtaining
recompense for losses. I had not an opportunity of learning the result
of his mission, but from his own statement, it did not merit success. He
told us he intended to have _made_ a great deal of pork this season, but
on collecting his pigs from the woods, where they had run for five
months, he could only number thirty-five instead of fifty-five. The
Indians had been seen hunting pigs, and he expected to get payment from
the government agent for twenty of his which were missing. In this
manner the poor Indian is preyed on by his white frontier brother, and
made pay for the ravages of disease, wild animals, and perhaps the
dishonesty of white men.
In our first day’s journey we dined at La Porte, a small rising place,
situated in a rich prairie country, and on the margin of Clear Lake, a
beautiful and picturesque sheet of water, said to be eight miles from
Lake Michigan. We stopped for the night at Clavering. The house was a
mean log erection of two apartments, one of which contained five beds,
in which nine travellers huddled together, and the other apartment, from
the number of the family, must have been equally well filled.
Our party collected at daybreak, when we set out on our journey, the
poor horses, not having got any thing but hay—oats, or Indian corn, were
not to be had. The road, leading through forests, was so heavy, that the
poor animals could not go beyond a slow walk, and I proceeded forward,
in company with the Nottawa Sepee farmer, with a view of ordering
breakfast for the party.
On reaching a house, we were told it would be some time before breakfast
could be prepared, as we had not been expected. The inmates of the house
consisted of a female and her two young daughters, whom the farmer and I
assisted in preparing wood for cooking. A kettle and two frying-pans
were put on the fire, and two others over some ashes, removed from the
general mass by means of a shovel, and placed on the hearth. Into one of
these pans some small loaves were placed, which had been prepared
beforehand, and covered with a lid, on which hot ashes were placed; and
in the other, batter-cakes, called flap-cakes, were prepared. In one of
the frying-pans on the fire bacon was dressed, and in the other
potatoes; so, in less than half-an-hour, a breakfast of the best the
house could afford was prepared.
The horses again fared poorly, getting a few ears of green Indian corn,
collected from the field, and we were told oats would be obtained at the
end of six or seven miles. We accordingly found this to be the case, a
small feed for each was granted, and a supply to carry with us denied.
After breakfasting, a French Canadian from the Lower Province, engaged
in trading with the Indians, joined us; and for five or six miles,
before reaching Lake Michigan, the road was through undulating oak
openings of loose heavy sand, over which I walked. We reached the lake
to the west of its most southerly point, and distinctly saw the shore
running north on each side of us. The beach along which our road lay was
so soft, that almost all the party walked to ease the horses, who showed
unequivocal symptoms of distress. It was now about nightfall, and our
guide from Niles, who had carried the mail over the country, assured us
we were twenty-eight miles from the nearest house. It appeared to me
doubtful if the tired animals could accomplish the journey under any
circumstances, and hopeless to think of them doing so with all the
passengers in the waggon. I therefore proposed to walk the distance, and
set out with such a view by myself; but reflecting that I was altogether
unacquainted with the country, and might pass the resting-place without
noticing it, I left the shores of the lake, and botanized on the sand
hills until I could no longer distinguish plants.
On returning to the waggon, the party were all reseated, with the
exception of the Nottawa Sepee farmer and Indian trader, and I could not
refrain from remarking the want of feeling evinced by some of the
gentlemen in oppressing the horses, then moving at the rate of three
miles an hour, dead to the whip, and occasionally coaxed on with water
in a pail. The evening was agreeably cool, the moon and aurora borealis
shone in splendour, and the ripples of the lake, and the wheels of the
waggon, passed without noise on the smooth beach. By and by, the sound
of distant thunder was heard rolling—on the waters flashes of lightning
could be distinguished, and at length the clouds from which both
proceeded came directly over our heads, accompanied by torrents of rain.
At this time the farmer and trader also betook themselves to the waggon,
and I continued to walk on foot. It is impossible for me to convey in
words a correct impression of our situation. Peal after peal of thunder
followed each other for two successive hours. The lightning was so
vivid, that every flash deprived me of vision for a few seconds, and,
unable to see the way, I laid hold of the waggon with one hand. The
horses seemed unwilling to proceed, and the guide was mounted on one of
the leaders to urge them along. At this time the wind had sprung up, and
the rain fell in such torrents, that, on turning my back to the storm, I
distinctly felt water running in streams on the surface of my skin.
The horses at length stood still—no means could make them move; and all
the passengers, with exception of the old soldier and his wife,
descended from the waggon. Five of us, Mr L——, Mr D——, the farmer,
trader, and myself, resolved to make the best of our way on foot, and
the others remained with the waggon. The gentlemen having had cloaks and
umbrellas to protect them from the rain while in the waggon, were
comparatively dry. The moon had set, and fortunately the night cleared
up at the time of commencing our walk. Mr L——, who was a tall athletic
person, in the prime of life, led the way at an exterminating pace over
the soft sand, followed by the farmer and others. It soon became evident
to me, that no frame could last at the rate we were going. Mr D—— and
the trader dropped astern, the former gave place to me, and at length Mr
L—— proposed to breathe on the trunk of a tree. Mr L——’s proposal was
most agreeable to me, having walked ten hours in course of the day
before setting out with Mr L——; and I afterwards heard the farmer say,
in conversation, that had it not been for the honour of his country, he
would not have continued to walk with the Europeans. Mr D—— and the
trader had not been seen for an hour before. We shouted to them in vain,
and at the end of ten minutes continued the journey at our former pace.
When resting a second time, Mr D—— and the trader passed us, both
mounted on one horse, which they obtained from an Indian known to the
trader.
At three in the morning, we observed a light, which, on approaching, was
discovered to be a lantern, with which Mr D—— was gathering potatoes in
a garden with his fingers, as the only means of removing them from the
earth, and the trader was bawling in a hovel for whisky. On entering the
hovel, two young girls and a boy, half Indian and half something else,
were reposing in a corner, each wrapped in a blanket; and on seeing so
many strangers, they all rose hurriedly and left the house. Some oats
were sent off by the Indian who owned the horse for the waggon horses,
and a small piece of bread and some whisky were obtained for ourselves.
Mr L—— and Mr D—— soon took possession of the corner and blankets, which
the girls had abandoned; and I was amused to see these individuals, who
had evidently been long familiar with the luxuries and refinements of
European society, accommodate themselves to circumstances, and take
possession of a sleeping place, which, in cleanness and softness, was
inferior to the bed of many an East Lothian pig. The farmer and trader
soon followed their example, and I was left standing by the fire drying
my shirt, after accomplishing which, I stretched myself alongside of the
trader, and was asleep in an instant.
At five the waggon and the rest of the party arrived, and at seven we
again set out, and reached Chicago in time for a late breakfast; the
countenances of all bore evidence of the fatigues of the preceding
evening, and my limbs felt them. The old soldier had drunk too freely on
his arrival at and departure from the hut, and his ravings while under
intoxication in praise of republicanism and General Jackson, as well as
in censure of England, were amusingly absurd. His wife seemed to feel
for her husband’s conduct, and the influence both of the driver and
Major W—— was scarcely sufficient to keep him in order.
Soon after leaving Niles, we crossed by a ford the river St Joseph’s,
which seemed to me to contain rather more water than the largest sized
rivers in Britain. For miles on both sides, the country is uninhabited,
and seems to combine the features of forest oak openings and prairie,
the trees being small, thin, and standing in groups, so as to produce
the best effect, often reminding me of the finest English parks. Six or
seven miles from St Joseph’s river, the prairie country commences, and
continues with little intermission to the westward as far as the country
has been explored. On the southern margin of Lake Michigan, there is a
range of sand hills, from 100 to 200 feet in height, apparently formed
by the drifting of sand from the beach, and the same character is
maintained up the west side of the lake, although the elevations are
quite inconsiderable.
The country from the river St Joseph’s, round the south side of Lake
Michigan, with exception of a small spot, belonged, at the time of my
visit, to the Pottowatamy tribe of Indians. This tract, extending to
about 6,000,000 of acres, was sold by the Pottowatamys to the United
States Government a few days after I passed over it, and is now in the
market.
The agriculture of the country from Niles to Chicago is limited to a few
prairies in the vicinity of La Porte, on which wheat and Indian corn are
cultivated in the most primitive manner. Here, as in the western part of
Canada, the farmers seemed contented to live. There were no barns seen
any where; and at Clavering the wheat was thrashed in the open air, on
the bare earth, and the fanners were standing covered with a little
straw. The Indian corn was still growing. In one instance, I observed
wheat newly sown, and a field of this crop above ground. The crop of the
year was in small, ill-built, unthatched ricks, resembling in size and
shape the hay cokes of Scotland. At Clavering I examined the prairie
wheat crop, and found the ears small in size, the straw short and
slender; the grain was particularly small, but of fine colour and
appearance.
The wood is chiefly oak. The summits of sand hills on Lake Michigan are
crowned with a few stunted pines, a tree which, I believe, is not to be
found farther to the south of this point, or west of the grand river in
Upper Canada, although abounding in some districts on the north-west
shores of Lake Michigan. Nearer the beach, and at a lower level than the
pines, dwarfish poplars grow, two species of bent grass, and a thistle.
A few vines were also on the sand hills, and when not growing in very
exposed situations, were lying on the banks as if trained on a wall; but
after a diligent search, I could not discover fruit on them. The sand
hills were thinly clothed with vegetation, and every plant, with
exception of the grasses, seemed stunted like those exposed to the spray
and storms of a British ocean. In this part of the country, I made a
large addition to my collection of seeds, which were wrapped in small
folds of paper, dried in my pocket, and afterwards transferred to my
knapsack.
I observed no animals that appeared new to me. In some parts squirrels
were particularly numerous, and exclusively of the black variety.
While walking on the sand hills on the south point of Lake Michigan, I
observed a small hawk pursue a bat, similar to that of Britain. The bat
dexterously avoided three swoops of the hawk, seemingly without much
exertion or concern, and both were hid from vision behind a bank in the
fourth attack. I had frequent opportunities of seeing birds of prey
attack their game while in America, without witnessing a successful
effort.
Chicago is situated on Lake Michigan, at the confluence of Chicago
river, a small stream, affording the advantages of a canal to the
inhabitants for a limited distance. At the mouth of the river is
Fort-Dearborn, garrisoned by a few soldiers, and one of the places which
has been long held to keep the Indian tribes in awe. The entrance from
the lake to the river is much obstructed by sand banks, and an attempt
is making to improve the navigation.
Chicago consists of about 150 wood houses, placed irregularly on both
sides of the river, over which there is a bridge. This is already a
place of considerable trade, supplying salt, tea, coffee, sugar, and
clothing to a large tract of country to the south and west; and when
connected with the navigable point of the river Illinois, by a canal or
railway, cannot fail of rising to importance. Almost every person I met
regarded Chicago as the germ of an immense city, and speculators have
already bought up, at high prices, all the building-ground in the
neighbourhood. Chicago will, in all probability, attain considerable
size, but its situation is not so favourable to growth as many other
places in the Union. The country south and west of Chicago has a channel
of trade to the south by New Orleans; and the navigation from Buffalo by
Lake Huron is of such length, that perhaps the produce of the country to
the south of Chicago will find an outlet to Lake Erie by the waters of
the rivers Wabash and Mamee. A canal has been in progress for three
years, connecting the Wabash and Mamee, which flows into the west end of
Lake Erie; and there can be little difficulty in connecting the Wabash
with the Illinois, which, if effected, will materially check the rise of
Chicago.
At the time of visiting Chicago, there was a treaty in progress with the
Pottowatamy Indians, and it was supposed nearly 8000 Indians, of all
ages, belonging to different tribes, were assembled on the occasion, a
treaty being considered a kind of general merry-making, which lasts
several weeks; and animal food, on the present occasion, was served out
by the States government. The forests and prairies in the neighbourhood
were studded with the tents of the Indians, and numerous herds of horses
were browsing in all directions. Some of the tribes could be
distinguished by their peculiarities. The Sauks and Foxes have their
heads shaven, with exception of a small tuft of hair on the crown. Their
garments seemed to vary according to their circumstances, and not to
their tribes. The dress of the squaws was generally blue cloth, and
sometimes printed cotton, with ornaments in the ears, and occasionally
also in the nose. The men generally wore white blankets, with a piece of
blue cloth round their loins; and the poorest of them had no other
covering, their arms, legs, and feet being exposed in nakedness. A few
of them had cotton trowsers, and jackets of rich patterns, loosely
flowing, secured with a sash; boots, and handkerchiefs or bands of
cotton, with feathers in the head-dress, their appearance reminding me
of the costume of some Asiatic nations. The men are generally without
beards, but in one or two instances I saw tufts of hair on the chin,
which seemed to be kept with care, and this was conspicuously so amongst
the well-dressed portion. The countenances of both sexes were frequently
bedaubed with paint of different kinds, including red, blue, and white.
In the forenoon of my arrival, a council had been held, without
transacting business, and a race took place in the afternoon. The
spectators were Indians, with exception of a few travellers, and their
small number showed the affair excited little interest. The riders had a
piece of blue cloth round their loins, and in other respects were
perfectly naked, having the whole of their bodies painted of different
hues. The race-horses had not undergone a course of training. They were
of ordinary breed, and, according to British taste at least, small,
coarse, and ill-formed.
Intoxication prevailed to a great extent amongst both sexes. When under
the influence of liquor, they did not seem unusually loquacious, and
their chief delight consisted in venting low shouts, resembling
something between the mewing of a cat and the barking of a dog. I
observed a powerful Indian, stupified with spirits, attempting to gain
admittance to a shop, vociferating in a noisy manner; as soon as he
reached the highest step, a white man gave him a push, and he fell with
violence on his back in a pool of mud. He repeated his attempt five or
six times in my sight, and was uniformly thrown back in the same manner.
Male and female Indians were looking on and enjoying the sufferings of
their countryman. The inhuman wretch who thus tortured the poor Indian,
was the vender of the poison which had deprived him of his senses.
Besides the assemblage of Indians, there seemed to be a general fair at
Chicago. Large waggons drawn by six or eight oxen, and heavily laden
with merchandise, were arriving from, and departing to, distant parts of
the country. There was also a kind of horse-market, and I had much
conversation with a dealer from the State of New York, having serious
intentions of purchasing a horse to carry me to the banks of the
Mississippi, if one could have been got suitable for the journey. The
dealers attempted to palm colts on me for aged horses, and seemed versed
in all the trickery which is practised by their profession in Britain.
A person showed me a model of a thrashing-machine and a churn, for which
he was taking orders, and said he furnished the former at $30, or L.6,
10s. sterling. There were a number of French descendants, who are
engaged in the fur-trade, met in Chicago, for the purpose of settling
accounts with the Indians. They were dressed in broadcloths and boots,
and boarded in the hotels. They are a swarthy scowling race, evidently
tinged with Indian blood, speaking the French and English languages
fluently, and much addicted to swearing and whisky.
The hotel at which our party was set down, was so disagreeably crowded,
that the landlord could not positively promise beds, although he would
do every thing in his power to accommodate us. The house was dirty in
the extreme, and confusion reigned throughout, which the extraordinary
circumstances of the village went far to extenuate. I contrived,
however, to get on pretty well, having by this time learned to serve
myself in many things, carrying water for washing, drying my shirt,
wetted by the rain of the preceding evening, and brushing my shoes. The
table was amply stored with substantial provisions, to which justice was
done by the guests, although indifferently cooked, and still more so
served up.
When bed-time arrived, the landlord showed me to an apartment about ten
feet square, in which there were two small beds already occupied,
assigning me in a corner a dirty pallet, which had evidently been
recently used, and was lying in a state of confusion. Undressing for the
night had become a simple proceeding, and consisted in throwing off
shoes, neckcloth, coat, and vest, the two latter being invariably used
to aid the pillow, and I had long dispensed with a nightcap. I was awoke
from a sound sleep towards morning, by an angry voice uttering horrid
imprecations, accompanied by a demand for the bed I occupied. A lighted
candle, which the individual held in his hand, showed him to be a French
trader, accompanied by a friend, and as I looked on them for some time
in silence, their audacity and brutality of speech increased. At length
I lifted my head from the pillow, leant on my elbow, and with a steady
gaze, and the calmest tone of voice, said,—“Who are you that address me
in such language?” The countenance of the angry individual fell, and he
subduedly asked to share my bed. Wishing to put him to a farther trial,
I again replied,—“If you will ask the favour in a proper manner, I shall
give you an answer.” He was now either ashamed of himself, or felt his
pride hurt, and both left the room without uttering a word. Next
morning, the individuals who slept in the apartment with me, discovered
that the intruders had acted most improperly towards them, and the most
noisy of the two entered familiarly into conversation with me during
breakfast, without alluding to the occurrence of the preceding evening.
On arriving at Chicago, I learned there was a mail-waggon which passed
down the Illinois river once a-week, and had set off a few hours before,
and was the only conveyance in that direction. I could not think of
remaining a week waiting for the waggon, and not finding a suitable
horse to purchase, I determined on walking. The passengers who had
travelled together from Niles, lodged at the same hotel, with exception
of the Major, who perhaps found shelter in the fort. The old soldier
seemed to have commenced a regular fuddling fit; and his wife, who was a
prudent sensible person, was in great distress, being thirty miles from
the residence of her son, and her husband quite uncontrollable. Finding
the destination of the old lady lay no great way out of my route, I
hired a waggon to take the old people and myself there next morning, the
soldier having been easily coaxed into the arrangement, and for which
his wife expressed thankfulness. On the waggon reaching the door of the
hotel, its owner, who was of French descent, insisted that he had only
bargained to convey two, and that unless he received $2 from me, I must
remain behind. After a noisy altercation on both sides, he offered to
accept of $1 extra, but feeling indignant at his attempt at imposition,
I shouldered my knapsack, and trudged off on foot. I have often looked
back with regret on this proceeding, as it was improper to leave the old
lady without seeing her fairly on her journey, and silly to have
exchanged high words with an individual who would altogether disregard
them. This was the only instance which occurred to me in the States, of
experiencing an attempt at imposition, or which was calculated to ruffle
my temper.
CHAPTER XXIV.
_Journey from Chicago to Springfield—Oak Plains—Travellers—Crowded
House—DuPage—Benighted—Clatterman’s—Ottawa—Family from New
England—Travellers—Gouging—Sleeping Accommodation—Peoria—Pekin
Storekeeper—Saltcreek—Hospitality of
Inhabitants—Springfield—Prairies—Notices of Nature—Face of the
Country—Soil—Agricultural Notices._
I left Chicago at ten in the morning of the 19th September: rain having
fallen, rendered the prairie difficult to walk on, especially when the
soil was wet. A number of Indians were travelling in different
directions, and also heavy waggons, some of the attendants of which
carried guns for the purpose of shooting on the journey.
I dined twelve miles from Chicago, at a hotel on the river Oak Plains, a
stream on which people were engaged in erecting a mill, and the waters
of which were competent to propel machinery of moderate power. On asking
the workmen if the stream flowed into Lake Michigan, they answered, “It
joined the Illinois, although in time of high freshets it sometimes
crossed the plains to the Chicago concern.” This is evidence of the
level surface of this part of America; the river Oak Plains, after
running in a southerly direction for half a degree of latitude, takes a
westerly course at a point twelve miles from Chicago, and only a few
feet above the level of Lake Michigan, and its waters join the sea at
New Orleans, while those of the lake flow into the Gulf of St Lawrence.
When crossing the Oak Plains, five or six geese alighted in the stream,
and I stood and saw a young man shoot one of them, who pointed out the
proper road across the prairie, which had become doubtful by two or
three diverging in different directions. While in the middle of the
prairie, two Indian men and a boy, the former with guns over their
shoulders, and the latter with a bow, perfectly naked, with exception of
a piece of blue cloth round their loins, and a few quills twisted into
their hair, approached me, and whom I saluted with a nod of the head.
They spoke in a language which I did not comprehend; they seemed equally
unsuccessful with me; and we parted, smiling at the fruitlessness of our
attempts. When nearly across the prairie, after passing the river, a
waggon overtook me, in which were two young men, who offered me a seat,
which I readily accepted. On learning the route I had travelled, they
particularly enquired about the waggons I had passed between Detroit and
Chicago, as they expected their parents to be then moving from New
England to join them in Illinois, and were anxiously looking for their
arrival. After riding about a mile we came to a tavern called the
Doctor’s, inhabited by a practitioner of medicine, getting the
appellation of Doctor, although in all probability not holding a
diploma.
The Doctor, on our arrival, was drawing water from a well built with
stones, which is uncommon in this part of the country, few people taking
so much pains to keep their water free of mud. The travellers acted as
their own ostler. On entering the house, which was a small log hut of
one apartment, I found a wife, four or five children of different ages,
and two travellers, one of whom was called squire, which is, I believe,
synonymous with judge, and corresponds with justice of the peace in
Britain. For some time I was puzzled to conceive where we were all to
sleep, and at length four of us were shown up a ladder into a garret, or
cock-loft, in which there were two beds. I took possession of one in
partnership with the squire, who told me, before going to sleep, that he
had lately suffered much from fever, and finding himself unwell, he had
stopt here for the night, instead of proceeding to Chicago. On rising at
daybreak, I found two travellers sleeping on the floor at the foot of
the ladder. The Doctor, his wife, and two children, lying in bed in the
ordinary way, and other two children lying across their feet. After
seeing the exertions made by this family to accommodate strangers, and
the consequent uncomfortableness of their own situation, I felt thankful
for the poor half bed allotted me, and in course of my travels duly
appreciated the most homely fare and accommodation, when it was the best
my entertainers could supply.
The inhabitants in this part of the country reside on the skirts of the
prairie, for the convenience of obtaining fire and fencing timber, and I
felt hungry before getting across a large one, after setting out from
the Doctor’s. Here, as in some parts of Canada, there are few taverns,
but almost every inhabitant entertains travellers for payment. On
entering the first house I reached, two well-dressed, genteel-looking
women were sewing at a window, one of whom said she could not furnish
breakfast without some inconvenience, and on apologizing for mistaking
her house for a tavern, she directed me to one about a mile distant,
near the banks of the river Du Page. After partaking of breakfast, I
examined a mill on the river, and again faced a prairie, the limits of
which were beyond the reach of vision. The day was extremely warm, and I
sauntered slowly along, collecting seeds of the various plants, and
washing my feet in the different streams I had to wade without my
stockings and shoes, by way of excusing myself from exertion under so
hot a sun. At length I met two travellers in a vehicle, who asked me how
far they were from the next house. After replying, I put the same
question, and was told twenty-five miles. At this time the sun was
sinking towards the horizon. I had no alternative but to push on, and as
evening approached, got into my best pace. Night, however, set in before
I could discern the forest at the termination of the prairie, and while
ruminating on the still seclusion which surrounded me, I was cheered by
the faint barking of a dog. The road diverged into two lines, and
darkness prevented me selecting the most beaten path, when the
appearance of a light in the distance decided the choice. I was now in
high spirits at the near prospect of terminating my walk, and
disregarded getting off the tract I had chosen, still keeping straight
on the light, which recalled to memory the song of “the Beacon light” I
had often heard sung by my youngest sister. Whatever may have been the
degree of interest excited by scenes and occurrences in a foreign land,
the associations connected with my birthplace never failed to impart the
most grateful and soothing emotions, and I had seldom been placed in
circumstances so favourable to such enjoyment. “The Beacon light”
suggested a thousand recollections which thrilled upon my soul; and as
they flitted across my memory, I proceeded with an elastic step,
whistling the air to which the words of the song are set, when I
suddenly found myself up to the middle in water. There was sufficient
light to enable me to see my situation was not attended with danger; and
after wading for a hundred yards or two, and scrambling over a rail
fence, I found myself on dry land. On applying at the house, the light
of which had long attracted my notice, I was received for the night, and
found three or four waggoners sitting down to supper, of which I partook
without much solicitation. The travellers slept in a different house
from the family, and each had the luxury of a single bed.
Next morning I breakfasted before setting out, and assisted my host, of
the name of Clatterman, to brand some oxen, of which he had nearly
forty, with a proportionate share of other agricultural wealth. In the
middle of the prairie I met about a dozen of horses, in charge of three
individuals, one of whom was particular in his enquiries regarding
Chicago, to which he was journeying to dispose of his horses. Like most
traffickers, he lost no opportunity of attaining his end, and asked me
to purchase one. Having walked upwards of forty miles the previous day,
under unfavourable circumstances, and not feeling in the least degree
fatigued, I determined to persevere walking for some time longer. Coming
in contact with the river Illinois, about half a mile above its junction
with the Fox river, I waded across a channel of freestone, where there
was a considerable sized island of the same rock, covered with wood. On
reaching the south side of the river, I walked down the banks, and dined
at Ottawa, a place of three or four houses, a little way below the mouth
of Fox river, and likely to grow into a city, from being at the head of
the navigation of the Illinois. Pursuing my journey until nightfall, I
made application for a bed at a house which was filled with travellers
and fever patients, and the owner recommended me to proceed four miles
further on. By the light of the moon I was enabled to cross the river
Vermilion by a sort of embankment for changing the direction of the
stream for mill purposes, and got under the roof of a New Englander, who
had lately come to this part of the country. The family consisted of the
old pair, two handsome young women, and a male visitor, whose bed in the
garret I shared. Every thing in the house was particularly clean and
neat. The manners of the inmates were calm and dignified, a smile never
playing on their countenances, or an emphatic sound proceeding from
their lips. For tea, bed, and breakfast, the charge of 1s. ½d. sterling,
was made.
Next day I applied for dinner at a house where a poor man was suffering
much from sickness, and medical assistance had been called in. The
family were about to sit down to a good dinner, of which I partook,
paying 6¼d. sterling. Night closed on me while in the middle of a
prairie, and I felt some apprehension of passing the cottages, which are
not easily discovered in a faint light, being almost invariably situated
a few yards in the forest, and of the same dark shade. A breeze, highly
tainted with the scent of fried pork, led me to expect a house, and to
which a light, proceeding from a half-opened door, served to guide me. I
found four travellers, the landlord, and his wife, assembled in a poor
habitation, lighted by what they termed a string, or piece of twine,
dipt in tallow, and which gave a glimmering light, so that we could
scarcely distinguish objects. There seemed to be only three tea-cups in
the house; the party had, consequently, to feed by turns, and, being a
stranger, I was requested by all to seat myself at the first table, an
honour to which my appetite led me to make no serious objection.
One of the travellers was descended from the original French, a little
merry fellow, speaking indifferent English, and two others consisted of
an old man and his son, originally from Kentucky. Both of these
individuals differed in their language and manners from most of the
people I had come in contact with since leaving Canada. The old man
spoke a good many words according to negro pronunciation, and both were
addicted to swearing. The son, about thirty-five years of age, was one
of the best-looking and finest formed men I met in America. I soon
discovered he was slightly intoxicated, and a most profligate character.
Being anxious to shun conversation with him, I was annoyed at his
placing his chair beside mine; and as there was neither another house
nor apartment to retire to, I endeavoured to make the most of my
situation. Having replied to his enquiry what countryman I was, by
asking him to guess, he successively said, Dutchman, German, Englishman,
and Irishman, and fearing he might lose patience, I at last told him a
Scotchman. He had never heard of Scotchmen before, and insisted I must
be one of the Scotch-Irish, which I afterwards learnt means, in this
part of the world, the inhabitants of the north of Ireland. The
discussion about Scotch-Irish suggested the proudest feat of his life.
He said Jim Partridge was an Irishman, able to whip any man in America,
and who must have been heard of in my country. He had a whipping-match
with Jim, who fell, and was in act of being gouged, when the bystanders
lifted him off Jim, who, seizing a stick, cut his head with it in a
dreadful manner. Gouging is performed by twisting the fingers into the
hair of the victim, and with the thumb forcing the eye out of its
socket. This savage act has long been known in Kentucky and some of the
western states, and was often resorted to when parties quarrelled. It is
now, however, confined to the lowest blackguards, and of rare
occurrence. The eyes of the wretch sparkled with delight when relating
the prostrate situation of Jim, and the prospect of gouging him, and he
explained his brutal attempt by placing his fingers in my hair and on my
face, when I could scarcely trust his intentions. He also insisted that
I should feel the indention made by Jim’s stick, and I thought his skull
must have been as hard as his heart to have withstood such a blow.
The house was in all respects a mean one, containing little furniture,
and two beds, from one of which rose an emaciated person, labouring
under aberration of mind, and to whom the house and lands adjoining
belonged. I began to feel uneasy about the sleeping accommodation, as
both beds would be required for the family, and there was no garret
apartment. The landlord at length drew forth from the corner of the room
a dirty tick and covering, which were placed in the middle of the floor,
and formed the sleeping place of five individuals, who arranged
themselves latitudinally on the pallet. I was anxious for an outside
berth, in order to have sea-room in case of accident, but the
complaisance of the gouger deprived me of this position, and I found
myself placed for the night between the old man and his son. None of the
travellers thought of unrobing; and after putting off my shoes, I laid
my head on my knapsack, which was the only thing in shape of a pillow to
be had. My situation was far from enviable; fumes of whisky and squirts
of tobacco juice assailing me on every side, and I considered the
partner of my bed more savage than the wolf of the forest. Speedily
falling into a profound sleep, from which I was awoke at daybreak by the
Frenchman searching for his saddle, the horrors of my situation flashed
on my mind, and I stealthily crawled from the bed, my movements being
accelerated by the gouger muttering an ugly oath.
On gaining the outside of the door, the freshness of the air was
delightful. The sky was cloudless, and in walking through the trees, the
paroquets fluttered from their resting-places with a shrill cry. On
reaching the opposite side of the wood, herds of cattle were seen
streaming from the forest, and the smoke of the morning fires ascending
in graceful columns, undisturbed by the serene atmosphere. The
prairie-hen rose from the pathway with a purring noise, and the little
gophers stood on end, and seemed to regard me as an intruder. The sun
peered above the prairie, as if rising from the ocean, and gilded the
nodding sunflower, whose brilliancy was heightened by dewdrops sparkling
on the blossom leaves, and with which I washed my face. Nature was
decked in a winning garb, and the events of the previous evening were
forgotten in wooing her beauties.
On entering a house at the end of the prairie, I found every thing neat
and clean, and two well-dressed females cheerfully provided breakfast.
One of them was in delicate health, and had lately come from the Du
Page, where she left a coloured man in charge of her establishment,
about whose health she felt anxiety, as almost every one on the river
had been afflicted with fever. It so happened that I had called at this
lady’s house for the purpose of enquiring the way, which was pointed out
by the coloured man, who was then in good health.
When about to partake of breakfast, I was joined by a traveller in a
light car, who passed me on the previous evening, and he expressed
surprise to find me before him, having gone a mile off the direct road
to escape passing the night in the house in which I lodged. He resided
at Pekin, and had come direct from Chicago, which he left about six
hours after me, and had travelled at what he considered a good pace. He
asked me to take a seat in his car, and we travelled together twelve or
fourteen miles on the wooded banks of the Illinois till opposite Peoria,
when we crossed the river in a ferry-boat, leaving the horse attached to
a tree.
Peoria takes its name perhaps from the tribe of Indians called Peorias,
and which is now almost extinct. It is situated on a lake, or an
expansion of the river, two miles wide, and four or five in length, at
some elevation above the water, and commanding a view of the lake and
fine wooded banks on the opposite side.
The village exhibits marks of considerable age, but none of prosperity.
I found the dinner hour past, and fared indifferently. There being
nothing to attract attention at Peoria, I recrossed the ferry, where the
horse was still standing, and bent my way to Pekin, which I reached a
little before sunset.
Pekin, sometimes called Pekin-on-the-hill, is situated on the Illinois,
and is progressing rapidly. The hotel was filled with permanent
boarders, who seemed to be engaged in the different mechanical arts. The
landlord was crawling about the house in a debilitated state, and
evidently a fever patient. The people assembled at table addressed me by
the name of stranger, and showed considerable attention; a female, as
usual, filling out tea.
For three days past I had been without shoe-ties, both having broken
after leaving Chicago, the bark of trees having since then been
substituted. I made application for a supply at different stores in
Pekin, without success. In one instance I found the storekeeper
stretched at full length, with his back on the counter, and his feet
touching the roof. At first I did not observe him, as the light from a
candle was faint, and I was surprised at hearing human sounds proceeding
from such an unseemly thing. He answered my enquiries regarding
shoe-ties dryly, without altering his position. On retiring I purposely
left the door of the store open, with the view of rousing him from his
unelegant posture. My stratagem did not, however, succeed, and I began
to think the individual might be a philosopher engaged in study, instead
of a demi-savage, which his behaviour at first led me to suppose.
On retiring to bed, I was deposited in a pretty huge apartment,
containing seven or eight beds, some of which were occupied by sick
people, and others were passing to and fro, at all hours of the night. I
rose early in the morning, and bent my course towards Springfield, in
Sangamon county, leaving the river Illinois to the westward. I applied
for breakfast, at an early hour, at a solitary house, which an overgrown
young woman readily supplied, baking bread and stewing a fowl in a very
short space of time, for which she charged well. In course of
conversation, I learned her husband was from the State of New York, and
had lived sometime in Indiana. Her children were evidently unhealthy,
and she said sickness was no great misfortune, as it was so easy to get
a living in the country. After breakfast I passed several small prairies
and the river Mackinaw, when I entered on a large and uninhabited one,
sixteen miles across. The day being very warm, I felt a good deal
fatigued, and was anxious to obtain dinner and shelter from the sun, but
on gaining the only house on the road, I was told the whole family were
sick, and it was impossible for me to obtain dinner. I proceeded to a
hotel on Salt creek, which I reached with scarcely sufficient light
remaining to distinguish the house.
The landlord of the hotel, Mr Music, was from home, and two daughters
and a son did the honours of the house. These people seemed in good
circumstances, having a well-stocked farm and abundance of Indian corn.
On my arrival, I was asked whether I would have bread of Indian corn or
wheat, and all seemed surprised to hear I had never tasted the former.
Two other travellers on horseback arrived, and bread of both kinds was
presented at table.
One of the travellers was on his way to Galena, for the purpose of
getting payment of horses he had sold some time before. He was
originally from Kentucky, and now resided in the neighbourhood of
Jacksonville. His manners were somewhat rough, and with this individual
I had much conversation. At first he was most anxious to engage me as a
farming-help, admitting that he himself had become too lazy to work
hard, and pressed me again and again to name my terms. To him and others
who wished my assistance as farming-help, I uniformly expressed
thankfulness for their kindness, and assured them that circumstances did
not admit me to reside in the country. Before separating, he offered me
a letter to his wife, who would give me free board at his house till he
returned, and his sons would drive me over the adjoining country. I took
down his address and left him, with a promise to visit Mrs Taylor if
time permitted me.
The travellers breakfasted at Salt creek before setting out on their
journey, which is good policy in thinly settled districts. The day was
excessively warm, and I suffered considerably from thirst. On passing a
cottage, before reaching Sangamon river, a girl was drawing water, from
whom I asked a drink; she went into the house and brought a tumbler,
which she filled with indifferent water, and handed over the rails. When
about to depart, a woman of prepossessing appearance came to the door,
and asked me to enter the house and shelter myself from the sun. I
thanked her, and in return, said I was anxious to reach Springfield in
time for dinner. She told me her husband, who was sick, liked above all
things to converse with travellers, and hoped for his sake I would enter
the house. There was something so earnest in the woman’s manner that I
would have found difficulty in resisting her entreaties at any time, and
on the present occasion my inclination yielded a willing assent.
The husband was stretched on a clean uncurtained bed, and appeared in a
most debilitated state. He brightened up by degrees, and showed he
possessed a good deal of information. He was particular in his enquiries
about Ottawa, on the river Illinois, to which he had some thoughts of
removing, as he had resolved to leave his present situation, where he
had resided for six years, on account of the scarcity of water. His
health and that of all his family had been good until the present time,
when he was seized with fever, which he thought the doctor had broken.
He regretted that his weakness could not stand cooking meat in the
house, but if I could partake of other food, his wife would place it
before me. A snow-white cloth was spread on the table, followed by
bread, milk, butter, and preserved fruits of excellent quality, and to
which I did justice. On departing, I received an invitation to call at
the house if ever I passed in the direction. Soon afterwards, crossing
the Sangamon river in a boat, although the stream was not more than
eighteen inches deep, I reached Springfield about two o’clock.
Dinner was readily promised at the hotel, although past the regular
hour, and in the meantime I prepared to wash and shave. On asking for a
bedroom, the landlord personally brought water, and on a second
application, soap and a mirror. I had now discovered that I also wanted
a towel, and at last, conscious of the impropriety of keeping the master
of the house running up and down stairs on my account, I moved off to
the pump-room and apologized for my past conduct, on the score of being
a stranger in the country, and unacquainted with its customs. I had no
cause to regret this proceeding, the landlord being remarkably attentive
during my stay, pointing out what was worthy of notice, and offering his
horse to visit them.
In the evening I passed two individuals conversing on the prairie, to
whom I nodded, a practice universal in all country places of the States
I visited. After proceeding a short distance, one of the persons
overtook me, and commenced conversation. “Sir, you are a
European?”—“Yes.”—“And an Englishman?”—“No; I am a Scotchman.”—“You are
at a great distance from your own country?”—“I am, but the sight of this
beautiful one has repaid me for the journey.”—“You are a mechanic?”—“No;
I have been a farmer from my youth upwards.”—“What induced you to come
here?”—“We farmers in Scotland, finding ourselves uncomfortably
situated, desire to emigrate to this country, the accounts of which
being contradictory, I resolved to see it personally.” The old gentleman
descended from his horse, with sparkling eyes, shook me by the hand,
saying, “In me you have found a friend.” There was something in the
man’s expression and warmth of manner so unexpected in this part of the
world, that I asked if he was from Scotland. He said his name was
Humphries, originally from Pennsylvania, his parents being of Welsh
extraction. I was pressed to pass the night at his house, and on
declining to do so, agreed to breakfast with him next morning.
I found the old gentleman, and what I supposed two daughters, expecting
my arrival. The house contained several apartments, in one of which were
some dozens of books on a shelf. Mr Humphries appeared verging on
seventy. We walked over the farm, and after partaking of excellent
melons, I took leave about noon, much gratified with my visit, and with
the kindest invitations to visit him or his family at a future period.
On arriving at the hotel, I learned that two Scotchmen had called for
me, Mr D—— and Mr B——, and I rode across a prairie, after dinner, to see
Mr D——, at his steam saw-mill on the Sangamon river. On my return to
Springfield, I spent the evening in company with two ladies from New
England, and one from Scotland. They agreed in thinking Illinois a hard
country for women and cattle, as helps could not always be had. My
countrywoman smiled at my objections to the slave states, and maintained
the coloured population were not human beings, but inferior animals
created for slavery. It was painful to hear a lady advance such
opinions, who in youth must have imbibed very different sentiments and
principles, and I attributed the change she had undergone to her
residence in a slave state, and affording in herself an instance of the
evils of slavery. Her observations required from me a reply; and the
subject dropt, on my remarking there were many white slaves in the
world, some being slaves to their passions, and others to their
prejudices.
Springfield is an irregular village of wooden houses, containing about
1200 souls. It is three miles from Sangamon river, which is only
navigable for small boats at the melting of the snow in spring. There
are good stores of all descriptions in the village.
The word prairie is derived from the French, and signifies meadow. In
America it means grass-land naturally free from timber, and is used in
this sense by me. Prairies have not been found in the eastern parts of
North America, and many conjectures exist regarding their origin in the
west. The general opinion is, they originated from, and owe their
continuance to, the agency of fire. It is quite certain fire sweeps over
them, at present almost every autumn, destroying the entire vegetation
on the surface; but whether proceeding from human or natural agency
remains unsolved, and it probably arises occasionally from both. The
burning must destroy seedling-trees, which would otherwise perhaps
occupy the whole surface by the wafting of seeds; and the continuance of
prairies may be, in many instances, owing to fire, but after having seen
them in all situations, it does not seem to account satisfactorily for
their origin. Prairies of a few yards’ extent are found in the midst of
dense and extensive forests, and rows of trees jutting miles into the
open country, without visible agency to account for their preservation.
Fire cannot be supposed to have originated the first case, nor the
absence of it the last, as it is seldom so partial in its effects. I
have no theory to offer instead of fire for the origin of prairies,
which seem productions of nature. The localities of plants are often
found to be partial, and Britain exhibits furze, heath, grasses, and
different species of trees, exclusively occupying the surface of certain
parts as natural productions. In America, trees vary in number on a
given space, from the dense forest to the oak opening, with half-a-dozen
of trees to an acre. Unless it be maintained that nature has allotted a
certain number of trees to a given extent of surface, it will be idle to
deny her handiwork in having formed oak openings and prairies, which are
met with in all situations, and which often seem to merge into each
other.
My friends in the Canadas used every argument to dissuade me from
journeying to the junction of the rivers Mississippi and Missouri. They
represented the country through which I intended passing as a
pestilential swamp, inhabited by demi-savages and dangerous animals. If,
perchance, I escaped disease and enemies, I would become low-spirited in
the wilderness, and to proceed alone and unarmed, would be little short
of insanity. But how different was the result! With the companionship of
nature, and the God of nature as my protector, want of company and fear
were unfelt, and I regard my wanderings on the prairie as the most
pleasing and instructive period of my existence.
Having reached Chicago with an unsocial party of travellers, and
gradually passing from the forests and oak openings of Michigan, it was
not until after crossing the river Des Plaines that I became fully
sensible of the beauty and sublimity of the prairies. They embrace every
texture of soil and outline of surface, and are sufficiently undulating
to prevent the stagnation of water. The herbage consists of tall grass,
interspersed with flowering plants of every hue, which succeed each
other as the season advances. The blossoming period was nearly over at
the time of my journey. Sunflowers were particularly numerous, and
almost all the plants had yellow blossoms. Every day brought me in
contact with species formerly unobserved, while others with which I had
become familiar, disappeared. Occasionally, clumps of trees stood on the
surface, like islands in the ocean. The bounding forest projected and
receded in pleasing forms, and the distant outlines appeared graceful. I
had no time for searching out and studying scenery, and perhaps
conceptions of beauty and grouping of trees, formed in the artificial
school of Britain, are inapplicable to the magnificent scale on which
nature hath adorned the country between Chicago and Springfield. The
works of man are mere distortions compared with those of nature, and I
have no doubt many prairies, containing hundreds of square miles, exceed
the finest English parks in beauty as much as they do in extent.
Sometimes I found myself in the midst of the area without a tree or
object of any kind within the range of vision, the surface, clothed with
interesting vegetation around me, appearing like a sea, suggested ideas
which I had not then the means of recording, and which cannot be
recalled. The wide expanse appeared the gift of God to man for the
exercise of his industry; and there being no obstacle to immediate
cultivation, nature seemed inviting the husbandman to till the soil, and
partake of her bounty. Mr Malthus’s doctrine, that population increases
faster than the means of subsistence, appeared more than doubtful, and
involving the unhallowed thought of a Being of infinite goodness and
power leaving man, a favoured object of creation, without the means of
subsistence. If a considerable portion of mankind ever are in want of
food, the cause will be found to arise from human agency, and not from
nature refusing to do her part. I felt grateful at beholding a field so
well fitted to relieve the depressed and starving population of Great
Britain and Ireland, while the conduct of their land-owning and
tithe-eating legislators, in restricting the circulation of nature’s
bounty, appeared sinful.
It has already been observed, that fire passes annually over the
prairies, which may perhaps account for the absence of clovers and
fibrous-rooted grasses, the herbage consisting chiefly of three or four
tall growing species, the creeping roots of which escape destruction,
and continue to exist without renewal from seed. At this advanced period
of the season, the coarse withered grass seemed unpalatable to animals,
and the cattle were, generally, browsing on parts which had been burned,
with a view of affording a succession of nutritious food. I collected
the seeds of many plants without knowing any thing of their usefulness
or beauty. On the banks of Meadowcrow creek, a small tributary of the
river Illinois, I first met the indigenous hop, apparently identical
with that of England, and from the Sangamon brought the leguminous and
earth seeds of _Glycine Monica_, a species of hazel exceeding four feet
in height, and indigenous to the whole extent of country through which I
travelled on the American continent, and which commonly fringed the
prairie, and graduated the change from forest to open plain. They were
loaded with small nuts, which sometimes satisfied my hunger.
The most numerous of birds were the ruffed grouse, or prairie-hen
already described. They frequent roads, particularly in the morning,
perhaps to escape from the effects of dew, and with the aid of a gun, I
might have shot many hundreds of them without leaving the pathway. On
the skirts of the forest around Springfield, quails, or partridges as
they are called in the language of the country, are abundant, and so
tame, that they might have been killed with stones. Notwithstanding the
number of such birds, Illinois cannot boast of gamekeepers, and I only
observed one individual shooting grouse. Many cranes, swans, ducks, and
wild-geese, were seen hovering above the prairies, and on different
occasions I disturbed owls reposing amongst withered grass. The forests
abounded with green coloured paroquets, which fluttered about with a
disagreeable noise, in flocks of six or seven.
Deer were frequently seen bounding across the plain, and prairie wolves
skulking amongst the tall grass. The prairie wolf is a small animal, not
much larger than the fox of Britain, and whose habits are not widely
different. In forests on the banks of the river Illinois, grey coloured
squirrels were extremely numerous, and seemed actively engaged in
collecting nuts, with which the ground was strewed. Near Pekin I walked
a mile or two with a person returning from shooting squirrels, and who
bestowed four or five on a woman who asked them for a sick boy. In
Canada, the colour of the squirrel is red; in Michigan, black; and in
Illinois, grey. The gopher is a red-coloured quadruped, in size and
shape resembling the weasel of Britain. It burrows in the prairies,
forming passages, and throwing up earth like the mole. It subsists on
vegetables, and is sometimes a source of annoyance to the farmer. I was
told it is furnished with pouches for carrying earth from its
excavations.
The wild bee was the most numerous of insects, and crowded the few
remaining blossoms of the sunflower. They live in the hollows of
decaying trees, and a considerable quantity of their honey is collected
by the inhabitants. In the Canadas, the maple-tree supplies saccharine
matter, and in Illinois, where this species of plant is rare or unknown,
the bee forms the chief source of this commodity. Thus, the maple, bee,
and cane, contribute the same ingredient to man, and are illustrative of
the economy and diversity of nature.
The country from Chicago to Springfield, through which I passed, may be
termed prairie, the portion of forest land being quite inconsiderable.
In the immediate neighbourhood of these villages, the surface is nearly
level, and in the intermediate space, sufficiently undulating for
usefulness and beauty. The forest trees on the margins of the prairie
are of small size, and chiefly oak; those on bottom, or interval, land,
on the banks of rivers, are of immense size. Forests generally clothe
the banks of streams, but sometimes prairies descend to the water’s
edge, on both sides, and no general rule can be laid down for the
prevalence or want of timber. After crossing the river Des Plaines,
there was no indication of marsh or wetness of soil, and I only observed
one lake, of very small extent. Rocks were not seen protruding above the
surface, although stones of considerable size were observed on the
wayside. The beds of the rivers Des Plaines, Du Page, and Vermillion, at
the places where I crossed, were strewed with stones. The freestone
rock, seen in crossing the Illinois, and of which a considerable sized
island was composed, was observed for several miles below in the
channels of tributary streamlets. I examined seams of coal on the banks
of the river Sangamon, in the vicinity of Springfield. My view was
imperfect, as the seams had never been worked. They appeared about two
feet in thickness, of bituminous quality, and fifteen feet above the
level of the river. A contract was entered into at the time of my visit,
to furnish coal, by removing the incumbent earth, at three cents per
bushel.
The soil of this district embraces almost every description, from poor
sand to rich clay of strong texture. It is of all colours, and generally
of superior quality. The poorest soil was on the banks of the Sangamon,
the richest on those of the Illinois. The black sand, of which the
prairies are partly composed, seems of a penetrating nature, and adheres
to the skin like soot. Before being aware of this circumstance, I
marvelled at the filthy appearance of some of the inhabitants, who did
not wear stockings, and at evening I sometimes found my feet and ankles
coated with black dust, after having been washed half a dozen times, in
course of the day, in wading streams. The burning of the herbage
prevents the accumulation of vegetable matter on the soil, and the
creepingrooted grasses, with which it is occupied, perhaps exhaust
rather than enrich it. First crops are seldom too luxuriant, and land is
said to improve after the breaking up of the prairie.
Agriculture embraces the growth of wheat and Indian corn and the rearing
of live stock; but, from the limited number of inhabitants, the
cultivated fields form a mere speck on the surface of the prairie. The
wheat stubbles in the neighbourhood of Springfield betokened luxuriant
crops, and the height and thickness of Indian corn filled me with
amazement. At the date of my visit, 23d September, most of this crop had
been severed from the earth, and was standing in conical piles on the
field, where it remains during winter, or until such time as it is
wanted. There are many kinds of Indian corn, differing widely in habits
of growth, and I was unable to determine whether the uncommon luxuriance
of that in this district was owing to a particular variety, or
congeniality of soil and climate, but I supposed the latter.
The herbage of the prairie, consisting of strong-rooted grasses, is
difficult to plough for the first time, and is commonly accomplished
with the aid of six oxen. The first ploughing is sometimes performed by
contract at $2 per acre. The plough for breaking up the prairie is
furnished with a broad share, and cuts a turf seventeen or eighteen
inches broad, by two or three in depth. Indian corn is dropped into
every third furrow, a bushel being sufficient for ten acres, and covered
with the next cut turf. This crop receives no farther cultivation of any
kind, is termed sod corn, and said to yield fifty bushels per acre. A
wheat crop follows without a second ploughing, the soil being simply
harrowed, receiving half-a-bushel of seed, and yielding twenty-five
bushels per acre. When Indian corn is grown on land not newly broken up,
it is commonly planted on hills four feet square, and four seeds are
allowed to each hill. The grasses do not appear amongst sod corn, and
annual weeds are not often troublesome, until after four or five years’
cultivation.
I witnessed the process of seeding land with wheat, during my visit to
Mr Humphries. Four oxen were dragging a small harrow, driven by his son,
who left them standing while he sowed ridge by ridge, and he was the
only individual engaged in the operation. The previous crop had been
Indian corn, and the land had not been ploughed since its removal. Dung
is not applied to the fields, though sometimes to the gardens, in which
melons and potatoes are chiefly cultivated. At Springfield, the potato
of Britain is not of fine quality, and passes by the name of Irish
potato, to distinguish it from the sweet potato, a species of
_convolvolus_. These potatoes seem not to be suited to the same climate.
Here, and farther to the south, the sweet potato was of large size, and
more palatable than the Irish one, although not equal to this root when
grown in a colder region. I observed a few plants of Guinea corn, which
its cultivators said answered as a substitute for coffee, but none of
them seemed to have given it a trial.
Clovers, or any description of herbage plant, did not come under my
notice. The prairie grasses, when closely depastured for a series of
years, fall off, and are said ultimately to disappear. This circumstance
was a source of uneasiness to some settlers, who looked forward to the
time when there would be a scarcity of food for cattle, and which seemed
to me as irrational as the Canadian farmers’ fears of wanting firewood.
I did not see breeding-horses or sheep in any part of my journey,
although I have no doubt there are plenty of both in the country. The
cattle were not numerous, but of good size, and in tolerable condition.
The prairie herbage was so completely withered, that I could not form an
opinion of its feeding qualities in spring. What had been burned to
afford a fresh supply, was so closely cropt by the cattle, that its
reproductive properties could not be estimated. In some situations near
Springfield, where stock is pretty numerous, and the prairie has been
cropt by them for years, the herbage appeared thin and unnutritious.
Pigs were frequently seen running about the forest, and were, like all
others seen at large in course of my tour, perfect starvelings. The
acorn season had arrived, and I was amused at the pigs scrambling for
this fruit. They ran grunting from tree to tree, and the noise of a
falling acorn was the prelude to a race and fight.
The inhabitants are thinly scattered over the country, and chiefly
settled on the skirts of the forest, the middle of prairies being
altogether unoccupied, and I was told untaken-up land, or such as had
not been bought from government, existed within a mile of Springfield.
Proximity to forest is chosen for the facility of obtaining building,
fencing, and fuel timber; and a settler regards the distance of half a
mile from forest an intolerable burden. The dwelling-places are
log-houses, larger than those of Canada, and somewhat better finished.
Frequently a nail or piece of iron is not used in the whole erection,
the door is without lock or latch, and the beds in the cock-loft lighted
by chinks in the walls. In such places, the owners of hundreds of acres
and scores of cattle reside. How powerful is habit and fashion in all
things! Labour is scarce and highly remunerated. A good farming help
obtains $120, and an indifferent one $100 a-year, with bed and board. A
female help receives in private families a dollar a-week. The
hotel-keeper at Springfield pays two female helps each $2 weekly in
cash, and told me if it were not for a desire young girls have for fine
clothes, he could not get one on any terms. Board, at the hotel, with
bed, is $3 for short periods, and for long periods $2½ per week.
In the Springfield market, butter is worth eight cents per pound, and
eggs six cents per dozen. Beef, in small quantities, is worth three, and
pork two cents per pound, respectively, and much cheaper by the carcass.
Wheat sells for thirty-seven and a-half, oats eighteen, and Indian corn
ten cents per bushel. Good muscovado sugar costs ten, and coffee twenty
cents per pound.
CHAPTER XXV.
_Journey from Springfield to St Louis—Jacksonville—Emigrant from
Edinburgh—Beds—Face of the Country—Alton—Mississippi—Luxuriant
vegetation—Bottoms—Mamelle Prairie—Mr Flint—St Charles—River
Missouri—Notices of Nature—Indian Antiquities—St Louis._
During my excursion from Chicago, I was fortunate in weather, which was
dry and moderately warm. The temperature increased on the day of my
arrival at Springfield, and became so hot on the following day, that I
resolved to wait for a mail stage to convey me to the Mississippi; I
accordingly left Springfield, about nine o’clock in the morning, in a
small stage, which reached Jacksonville about sunset. A very heavy
shower of rain fell soon after setting out, and covered the roads four
or five inches deep with water, the level surface and want of ditches
preventing its escape. The passengers dined by the way, and chiefly
consisted of clerical students, on their way to Jacksonville college.
From their conversation with each other, I learned they had lately been
engaged in teaching in different parts of the country, and felt much
anxiety about speeches they were soon to make, and which were already
written, and had been revised by friends. They were plain in dress and
in manner, bordering on what is called homespun in Britain; and they
sung most beautifully while in the coach.
Jacksonville contains about the same number of souls as Springfield, but
is superior in buildings, arrangement, and situation. Many of the houses
consist of brick, and the hotels are large and commodious. The country
in the neighbourhood is considered populous in this part of the world,
and has been settled for a considerable length of time. I was anxious to
see the farm of some Englishmen, whose skill I had heard extolled, but
want of time and light denied me this gratification.
I had been intrusted with a letter to a gentleman in the vicinity of
Jacksonville, who formerly resided near Edinburgh, and which I would
have delivered personally, had I not been informed, when approaching
Springfield, that he had lately moved from his first situation into the
territory of Arkansas. On this intelligence, I put the letter into the
post-office, and a few minutes afterwards learned, from unquestionable
authority, that my first intelligence was incorrect. Finding the stage
did not leave Jacksonville until two o’clock in the morning, I resolved
to visit the gentleman, who resided about three miles from the village.
The moon being nearly full, I had little difficulty in reaching his
dwelling. It was late before Mr L—— made his appearance, who happened to
be dining with Mr K——, but the interim passed pleasantly in the company
of Mrs L——, whom I had seen in East Lothian, and a sensible Irishman,
who had settled himself about a hundred miles higher up the Mississippi.
The house was a log erection of two apartments, and the family seemed to
possess every necessary of life. Want of light prevented me seeing the
farm, and forming an opinion of the prospects and circumstances of this
emigrant.
On returning to Jacksonville, I found some of the stage-passengers
partaking of coffee before setting out on the journey. The vehicle was
well filled, and contained a young married woman labouring under ague.
Some of the passengers were agreeable and communicative. We passed
through Carlton, dined at a solitary log-house, and reached Alton
sometime after nightfall. The hotel being crowded, there was difficulty
in accommodating the passengers, and I was asked to take half a bed. I
assented to this arrangement, but added I was a foreigner, and not
likely to make the most agreeable companion to a native, on which
account I would feel obliged to have, were it possible, a bed for
myself; the landlord indulged me. By following this policy, I invariably
obtained a whole bed in hotels, and it was only in the huts of the
remote parts of the country, where beds could not be obtained, that I
did not sleep alone.
The misrepresentations of American character, in connexion with beds,
are frequently met with in Britain, and of which the following anecdote,
related by one of my friends, may serve as an illustration. Two
Englishmen, travelling in a hired carriage, reached a lonely inn at a
late hour, to which they got admittance, and, after much solicitation,
at length each took possession of a bed. In a short time afterwards, the
driver wished to share one of the beds; an altercation ensued with the
first possessor, who reluctantly yielded, in preference to maintaining
his position by animal strength. However much the brutality of the
driver may appear to be set forth in this anecdote, the traveller was
the more culpable of the two. In such a climate as that of the United
States, where people can move from place to place in carriages of any
description, every body will prefer the whole of a bed to a part, and
the circumstance of the driver wishing to lie down beside the
Englishman, is evidence that a third bed could not be obtained. In all
probability, the customs of the district and sentiments of the driver,
placed both individuals on a footing of equality, and it was
unreasonable to attempt to exclude him from a share of comfort, and more
especially if the family put themselves to inconvenience in furnishing
the beds. If the Englishman disliked nestling with the driver, he might
have crept in beside his friend, or quietly betaken himself to the
floor. I remember arriving at a large and well-conducted inn at Melrose,
Scotland, on the evening preceding an annual lamb market, and learned
that on such occasions travellers could only have half a bed. In course
of the evening, the waiter whispered that my companion wished to retire
for the night, and pointed him out on the opposite side of the table. He
was a profligate and well-known character, and nearly intoxicated to
insensibility. To have shared his bed was an idea revolting to my
feelings, and, after requesting that he might be shown to a room, I
stretched myself on chairs for the night.
The two foreign gentlemen, in whose company I travelled from Detroit to
Chicago, carried along with them a bed tick of air-tight cloth, which
was occasionally filled, and reposed on by one of them. This is a very
portable bed, and will be found agreeable to travellers frequenting the
wilds of America, who do not dislike being encumbered with luggage. A
robust person who dreads such accommodation as the country affords, will
do very well with the aid of a cloak to wrap himself in during the
night.
The country from Springfield to Alton, by way of Jacksonville, is a
succession of prairies of a different character from those formerly
seen, their surface being almost perfectly level, and in many parts
indicating wetness. The soil did not always appear rich, more especially
towards the conclusion of the journey. Darkness prevented me seeing much
of the country around Jacksonville, but I saw a small patch of clover,
which was the only instance I observed this plant in Michigan, Indiana,
Illinois, and Missouri.
Alton stands on the east bank of the Mississippi, about one mile above
the junction of the Missouri, and sixteen below that of the Illinois. It
consists of two irregular villages, called Upper and Lower Alton; the
population is stated at about 700 souls. This place is likely to become
the chief port of Illinois on the Mississippi, and is already the seat
of considerable trade.
On leaving my bedroom, on the morning after arriving at Alton, the
Mississippi was seen flowing before me at a few yards’ distance, and my
first proceeding was to fetch part of its water in a jug for morning
ablution, the number of travellers in the house rendering some exertion
necessary to get washed and shaved in time for breakfast. On leaving the
hotel, I walked down to the junction of the Missouri, and returned to
Alton, where I crossed the Mississippi in a horse ferry-boat. The stream
is more than a mile in breadth, flows at the rate of one or two miles an
hour, and is slightly turbid. The situation of Alton, from the opposite
side of the ferry, is beautiful. An island divides the river, which,
being land-locked above and below, has the appearance of a lake. The
western bank is low, the eastern high and rocky, terminated by wood on
the summits of the bluffs, as the projecting knolls or hills on the
banks of some American rivers are called. The rocks are partly sand and
partly limestone.
Here I observed a steam grist-mill; the under part of the building was
composed of stone, as high as the water of the river would reach in
floods, the upper part being of wood. The building was founded on rock,
and stones might have been had for the upper stories, by laying a plank
from the building to the rock on the rising bank.
The purpose of my present excursion was to view the prairie in the
neighbourhood of St Charles, at the foot of the Mamelles, so beautifully
described by Mr Flint, whose account is given as a quotation in Mr
Stuart’s “Three Years’ Residence in America.” The description excited my
imagination at the time of first reading it, and was imprinted on my
memory till effaced by seeing the object before me. St Charles is about
twenty-six miles from Alton, and as there was no regular conveyance
between the places, I did not regret the necessity of walking, which
would afford me an opportunity of traversing the narrow neck of land,
separating two of the largest rivers before their junction in the most
fertile and extensive valley on earth, as well as of examining the
modern paradise of my imagination.
The road from Alton to St Charles passes up the west bank of the
Mississippi for above a mile, and for ten or twelve through its densely
wooded bottoms, at no great distance from the river before the prairie
is reached. On attaining the opposite side of the ferry, the exuberant
and varied vegetation excited my admiration, and far surpassed every
thing I had seen on the banks of the Illinois and its tributaries. The
height and circumference of the trees are immense, and such was the
rankness of vegetation, that I culled several leaves from young shoots
of the button-wood two feet in length. The climbing plants were in
proportion to the rest of the vegetable family, reaching the summits of
the most gigantic trees; sometimes three species were clinging to the
same trunk, and seemed vying with each other in richness and beauty. The
vines particularly attracted my notice. This plant is common in most
parts of North America, and its foliage is beautiful in the
neighbourhood of Montreal. Here the stem of the vine was occasionally
seen nearly a foot in diameter, issuing from the earth twenty or thirty
feet from the root of the tree which supported its branches, and
stretching seventy or eighty feet before coming in contact with the
trunk, forming, together with its supporter, a striking representation
of a massy flag-staff. I had difficulty in accounting for the form which
the vine presented. Both plants may be considered coeval, and their
boughs to have extended in unison. Some tender twigs of a vine were
observed climbing and twining around its aged stems, leading to the
supporting tree, which seemed to me illustrative of maternal affection,
and of the hackneyed phrase, “teaching the young idea how to shoot.”
There were some trees of diminutive growth overhanging the river, from
the tops of which the tendrils of the vine hung in graceful festoons, as
if wooing the water. From such I collected fruit, and discriminated
several varieties by the form and flavour of the grape.
At first the clear and wide-spreading prairies delighted me from their
novelty, and the contrast with the dense and interminable forests of
Upper Canada, and I now enjoyed the umbrageous vegetation of the
Mississippi bottom, after having become familiar with the nakedness of
the prairie. All the rivers of magnitude in the valley of the
Mississippi seem to have occupied, at a remote period, higher elevations
and wider channels than they now do, called first and second banks, and
the flat space on the margins of their present channels passes by the
name of bottom, which generally consists of alluvial depositions,
annually augmented by the overflowing of the waters at the melting of
the snow. This bottom of the Mississippi was undescribably rich, and I
was so engrossed by the wonders of its shadowy vegetation, as to be
insensible of the approach of rain and thunder, until torrents fell
around me. Shelter was obtained from the inclining trunk of a large
tree, and the foliage of many of the climbing plants formed vegetable
umbrellas.
The soil of the bottom is of considerable tenacity, and the rain
rendered it unpleasant and fatiguing to walk on. The road diverged from
the river at an uninhabited brick house, and I did not see a human being
for eight or ten miles. Some of the houses seemed to have been deserted,
and no recent settlement made. In one situation there was a large and
well-grown orchard, from which I gathered most excellent apples. There
were few traces of cultivation, and Indian corn was the only
agricultural production on the soil. Weeds, which in other situations
were observed of diminutive size, here attained magnitude, and I
estimated the height of some Indian corn at twenty feet; amongst this
crop purple coloured convolvuluses were twining, the seeds of which were
added to my collection. On examining some wheat ricks, I found the straw
covered with mildew, and the grain shrivelled skins. Fertile as the
Mississippi bottom appeared, it bore no traces of human enjoyment.
On entering the prairie, which is elevated a little above the bottom
land, two lines of road diverge, and I was directed on that leading to
St Charles, by two men of colour chopping firewood in front of a house,
who, in all probability, were the first slaves I had ever seen, Missouri
being a state in which slavery is tolerated, and in which I had
travelled since crossing the Mississippi. My way, for a considerable
distance, was over a waxy soil covered with water, the road being
bounded with tall grass, over which I could not see. On attaining a
higher elevation, the rank grass disappeared, the soil became dry, and
for miles was of poorer quality than any I had seen since leaving the
shores of Lake Michigan. The soil, which was worn into inequalities by
the action of wind and travellers, was repeatedly examined, and the
opinion which I formed was corroborated by the thriftless and stunted
vegetation on its surface. On leaving the bottom there were some spots
covered with clover, and the finer descriptions of grass, closely
cropped by cattle, which formed the only verdant pasturage I had met
with since leaving Amherstburgh in Canada. My progress over the wet
roads had been slow, and I felt fatigued and hungry. On applying for
bread at a log-house, the inmates cheerfully offered to prepare some for
me, but I departed after quaffing a glass of water. The soil improved,
without becoming very rich. Some people were engaged in sowing wheat,
and several herds of cattle were observed. On the left-hand side of the
road there was a narrow and extensive sheet of water, covered with weeds
and waterfowl, and seemingly connected with the Missouri. Light
disappeared before I reached St Charles, and several miles were
traversed in darkness.
I did ample justice to the viands set before me at St Charles, sitting
at table with the landlord and his wife, and tended by a female slave,
who was addressed by all in terms of civility. The landlord was a
Virginian, and had lately commenced hotel-keeping at St Charles, in
consequence of having been unfortunate in another calling in the place
of his birth. I found him kind and gentlemanly in manner, and
communicative and intelligent on a variety of subjects. He presented me
with a glass of wine, as made from the grape of the country, and which I
considered good.
In course of conversation I learned the landlord intended going to St
Louis next day, immediately after breakfast, and he agreed to give me a
seat in his waggon on the same terms as the regular conveyances carried
passengers. Before going to bed, it was arranged that I should visit the
Mamelles in the morning, and at daybreak I found a horse waiting for me,
which proceeded over the ground at a rapid pace. The road leading from
St Charles to the prairie passes through a rich and beautiful country,
something like a narrow valley, with swelling heights to the west, the
opposite side forming good farms. I followed a diverging pathway leading
up the ascent, and soon found myself on the brow of an eminence,
commanding an extensive view of the prairie, over which I had travelled
the preceding evening. The scene was so different from the conceptions I
had formed of it, that I fancied myself occupying a wrong position, and
seeing a cottage on the plain below, I descended to ascertain the point.
On asking for the Mamelles, a person pointed to a bluff a few hundred
yards distant, forming the termination of the ridge I had just left, and
considerably more to the east than the spot where I had been. Leaving my
horse attached to a railing in front of the cottage, into which I was
invited, I ascended the Mamelle on foot, from the top of which the scene
was unvaried from that I had seen before, with exception of the addition
of part of the small valley running towards St Charles, and which seemed
the most interesting part of the landscape. Strong indications exist of
the Missouri and Mississippi having once united their waters at this
spot; and if such was the case, the prairie must then have formed the
bottom of a lake, and become dry when the rivers assumed a lower level.
The prairie is bounded to the west by the ridge of bluffs, of which the
Mamelles form a part; and to the east by the forest on the Missouri and
Mississippi bottoms. On the north the Mississippi curves gracefully
round the margin, and its bold eastern bank forms a beautiful outline.
The centre is monotonously flat; and at no great distance from where I
stood were two insignificant clumps of stunted trees, which afforded no
relief to the eye, and excited ideas of sterility. Excluding the pretty
valley stretching towards St Charles, and which cannot with propriety be
considered as forming part of the prairie, half-a-dozen of hamlets could
not be numbered, and there was a total absence of animated life. The
rich blossoms of the various plants which impart delight to a lover of
nature, had yielded to the influence of the season, and autumn had
seared vegetation. The long narrow stripe of stagnant water which I had
skirted the night before was a conspicuous feature, and suggested ague
and pestilence. The view from the Mamelle was found to be extensive, but
not pleasing; and, hurrying from my elevated position, I scampered off
for St Charles.
Mr Flint, in speaking of this prairie, says, “It yields generally forty
bushels of wheat, and seventy of corn, to the acre. _The vegetable soil
has a depth of forty feet, and earth thrown from the bottom of the wells
is as fertile as that on the surface. Here are 100,000 acres of land of
this description fit for the plough._”
I am of opinion there is not a square inch of such soil as Mr Flint
describes. But in differing with him on the merits of this prairie, I
must not forget that the impressions of a scene are always affected by
the circumstances under which it is viewed, both with regard to nature
and the individual himself. The weather was unfavourable at the time of
my visit, which was on the 1st of October. Thick clouds obscured the
sky, and were scudding before a cold and tempestuous west wind. The
ground was drenched by rain which had fallen in course of the evening,
and strewed with leaves and branches torn from the trees by the violence
of the storm. Personal circumstances were more favourable than those of
the weather for forming a just estimate. Having already traversed part
of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, the novelty and excitement at my
first introduction to prairie scenery had subsided. I enjoyed the
highest degree of mental and bodily vigour, was at peace with the world,
and favourably predisposed towards the object. Mr Flint was differently
situated. But perhaps an American poet and a Scottish clodpole will ever
view things through a different medium. The means which I had of forming
an estimate of this prairie were ample, and the simple fact of it being
still almost uninhabited, while thousands of settlers have passed over
it to more distant locations, may be taken as proof that my estimate is
substantially just. Having spoken of Mr Flint as a poet, it is but
justice for me to say I have alone formed my opinion of his endowments
from the account he has given of this prairie, which seems to have been
written with poetic license. “The prairie itself,” he says, “was a most
glorious spectacle,—such a sea of verdure, in one direction, extending
beyond the reach of the eye, and presenting millions of flowers of every
scent and hue, seemed an immense flower-garden.” This is a description
of a prairie, in lat. 39, in the month of September, when the luxuriance
and brilliancy of vegetation is past. But it was “the first prairie of
any great size or beauty” he had seen. To me, who had already become
acquainted with the fertility of such places, and formed opinions of
their utility in relation to civilized man, the scene was associated
with the disease and destruction of the human race, and not their
enjoyment and support.
Had the season of the year and state of the weather been more favourable
for viewing this prairie, I might have admired its beautiful outlines;
but under no circumstances would it have possessed the interest of the
landscape seen from the heights above Ottawa on the river Illinois. Here
extensive prairies are seen stretching on every hand, with beautiful
undulating surfaces, and adorned with masses of forest of every shape
and size. The junction of the Fox River with the Illinois is in the
foreground, and their banks are either forest or prairie, in keeping
with the surrounding surface. Both rivers are of moderate size, and the
flowing of their limpid waters imparts life to the landscape, which
combines all the soft beauties of prairie scenery, and excites
associations connected with human happiness. Settlers are yearly taking
up their residence in this quarter, and the junction of the Illinois
with Lake Michigan, by means of a railway or canal, which the state has
undertaken to construct, will insure its early settlement.
St Charles is one of the many places in the Western States, founded by
the French, which they partially explored in the early part of the
eighteenth century; and the descendants of the first settlers are still
met with throughout the course of the St Lawrence and the valley of the
Mississippi, possessing the language, manners, and customs of their
forefathers. The population is stated to be above 1200, and to consist
of nearly equal numbers of Americans and descendants of the French. It
is washed by the Missouri, and has increased considerably in wealth and
population of late years.
Immediately after breakfast the landlord of the hotel, whose name has
escaped my memory, conducted me over the rocky banks of the river to the
horse ferry-boat, on board of which was his waggon and handsome pair of
horses. The boat proceeded up the north bank for nearly a mile before
crossing the stream, and the horses by which it was propelled were
considerably distressed, and generally blind and in low condition. The
Missouri possesses a different character from any river I had seen
before. Here its breadth is about half a mile, the waters running
impetuously between wooded banks, and so turbid as to exceed in
muddiness the water of British streams after the most copious rains. The
islands and banks seem to be constantly changing, and strewed with
fallen trees, having their tops in the stream, and their roots on land.
The water of the Missouri is said to undergo little change in
consistency or colour, which is whitish, except during severe frost,
when it contains less mud. The state of the waters of the Missouri is
thought to be owing to the washing away of the banks, and it is
difficult to account for it on other grounds. The course of the river
before reaching St Charles is not much short of 3000 miles, and I have
not been able to learn the state of the waters towards its source, or
that of its tributaries at the places of junction.
On reaching the opposite side of the Missouri, we travelled over two
miles of bottom resembling that of the Mississippi opposite to Alton,
but not quite equalling it in vegetable luxuriance. The surface was wet
from the rain that had fallen, and the only inhabitant seen was so
feeble and emaciated, that his life was likely to be of short duration.
On passing the bottom, we had about twelve miles of highly-undulating
surface, consisting of red-coloured clay, of fertile quality, thinly
wooded, and partially settled. For nearly six miles, before reaching St
Louis, the road passes through a prairie country of undulating red clay,
and apparently speedily getting into forest. The landlord told me he had
visited this district many years before, which was then without a tree.
There is a race-course within three miles of St Louis, which appears
well frequented.
I had hitherto observed the vine growing chiefly by the sides of lakes
and rivers, but here it was growing on the highest and most elevated
situations, loaded with fruit. The prevailing tree on the partially
wooded part of the road was oak. I first observed the catalpa-tree in
the streets of St Charles, and the persimon, in travelling to St Louis.
This fruit was disagreeable to my palate, and did not improve on a
second trial some days afterwards.
Throughout my tour in the States of New England and Upper Canada, I had
found the soil of all districts where the surface was considerably
undulating, uniformly of inferior quality. Michigan presented the same
appearance, and on a few of the prairies I fancied I could trace the
same feature. I had considered the subject on different occasions, and
began to draw a general conclusion, which this day’s experience
completely upset. Here the surface was one of the most undulating I had
travelled over, and uniformly of fertile clay. I afterwards found some
of the swelling grounds of Ohio of this character.
We met and conversed with the members of several families moving into
Missouri, with the view of settling in the remote parts of the state;
and I met one before crossing the Mississippi, on his return from it, in
consequence, he said, of its unhealthiness. Local attachments seem to be
the sheetanchor of man, and when they are once broken, or exist weakly,
he becomes restless, and unhesitatingly follows any ignis fatuus that
may dance before his imagination. From this source the erratic habits of
the American population may perhaps arise, as well as many of their
peculiarities of manners and customs. But without pursuing this subject
into its various ramifications, I may remark that the temporary houses,
fences, and generally uncomfortable nature of a Western American
farmer’s establishment, may be the result of constantly looking forward
to departing from his residence, and seeking to have little property but
what can be easily transported.
On reaching St Louis, I found the hotels crowded; my first two
applications for accommodation being unsuccessful, I at last gained
admittance into a secondary hotel, to which I was recommended by the
landlord from St Charles. I slept in an apartment containing two beds,
which were occupied, and the arrangements and customs of the hotel were
similar to those I had hitherto frequented. Two days were spent in St
Louis and its neighbourhood, on both of which I examined some mounds, or
tumuli, of a former race of people, some of which are on the north
skirts of St Louis, and many more on the opposite side of the river.
These mounds are found over the whole of the valley of the Mississippi,
and many conjectures exist regarding their origin. They are found of all
sizes and shapes, from the finished pyramid to the perpendicular square,
a few feet in height. Soon after my arrival at St Louis, I found one in
the town, of an oblong shape, fifty yards in length, and finished with a
regular pitch of about forty feet in perpendicular height, while
another, at a short distance, with sloping sides, had an unfinished top
thirty-four by forty-four yards. Some tumuli have been examined, and
found to contain immense quantities of human bones and broken pottery,
which has given rise to a general opinion that they were the
burying-places of former ages. Besides tumuli there are other
antiquities of forts, camps, or towns, the best specimens of which are
in Ohio; and a fort in the neighbourhood of Newark, in that state,
contains forty acres within its walls, which are about ten feet high.
The Indians of the present day in the northern and middle parts of the
valley of the Mississippi, are neither sufficiently numerous nor skilful
to erect such works, from which some people argue the antiquities
belonged to a different race, which preceded the Indians. It is of no
consequence to the existing portion of the human race by what beings
these remains were erected; and the grounds for believing the Indians to
have decreased in numbers, and retrograded in civilisation, are much
stronger than those for conjecturing them to have been preceded by a
distinct and more skilful people.
St Louis stands on the west bank of the Mississippi, 1200 miles above
its junction with the sea, 200 above the confluence of the river Ohio,
and 18 miles below that of the Missouri. Its situation is sufficiently
elevated above the river, the banks of which are limestone. There is a
row of stores fronting the river, built of stone, and the town consists
chiefly of two streets of brick-houses, running parallel to the river,
the outskirts being mean wooden houses. This is a place of extensive
trade, being the chief depôt of lead, which is furnished in vast
quantities by the states of Illinois and Missouri. Grist-mills and other
machinery are propelled by steam. I counted sixteen steam-boats on the
river, exclusive of one plying as a ferry-boat.
The city was founded by the French in 1764, and about one-third of the
inhabitants are their descendants. The American population now
preponderates, but there are numbers of all nations, including many
Spaniards. It is the chief place of wealth and trade on the Mississippi,
with exception of New Orleans, and may justly be considered the
metropolis of the valley of the Mississippi.
I visited the market night and morning, which was abundantly supplied
with every necessary, brought forward by farmers from all parts of the
country, and not retailed by stall-keepers. Many well-dressed white
ladies, and blacks of both sexes, carried baskets over their arms, and
were making purchases, but I did not observe a white gentleman. Here I
first saw the egg-plant. For hen eggs 9½d. a-dozen, and for skinned
squirrels 1½d. each, sterling money, was asked.
CHAPTER XXVI.
_Voyage from St Louis to Cincinnati—Mississippi—Ohio—Falls
of the Ohio—Passengers—Details of the Voyage—Notices
in Natural History—Vessels on the
River—Louisville—Hotel—Steam-boats—Inquisitive
Irishman—Tobacco-squirting American—Advantages of Shabby Attire to
Travellers—Mr Hamilton’s Account of Men and Manners in the Western
Steam-boats—Cincinnati—Agricultural Notices._
Having made up my mind to pay a second visit to Upper Canada before
returning to Britain, and wishing to take Cincinnati in my way, I
hesitated whether to proceed by stages, through Illinois and Indiana to
Louisville, or by a steam-boat down the Mississippi, and up the Ohio.
Having more than once experienced the deceitfulness of information
obtained from stage-office people in Britain, and disliking the
information got at the offices of St Louis, I determined on travelling
by water, and, learning the Helen Mar was to sail in a few hours
afterwards, I immediately secured a berth.
The Helen Mar was a boat of the smallest size, and on this account well
suited for the voyage at this season of the year, when there is a want
of water in the Ohio for vessels of the second class. She proceeded at a
rapid rate down the current, and made the first stop at Jefferson
Barracks, ten miles below St Louis, on the west side of the river, where
we were detained until nightfall, by receiving on board some officers of
the United States army, with their families and luggage. In course of
the night, one of the shafts broke, and the vessel continued her voyage
with one paddle.
I found the Mississippi a very different looking stream from what it was
at Alton. Instead of being a placid river, gliding gently between
beautiful banks, it had assumed the character of the Missouri,
impetuosity, muddiness, and devastated margins. In sailing down the
Mississippi below St Louis, we were said to have passed the most
interesting scenery in the night, and there was little seen by me
calculated to impart pleasure or relieve the eye. The dense, and at this
season, gloomy vegetation on the banks and islands, reminded me of the
Lake of the Thousand Isles, at the opening of the St Lawrence. The
turbid torrent, boiling and whirling in a thousand directions, was
washing away the banks at one place, and leaving depositions at another.
Indian corn was seen falling with masses of earth, and mingling with the
stream, and uprooted trees, suspended from the banks with their branches
under water, as if experiencing suffocation. Everything suggested to the
mind desolation, and led me to think this such a river as despairing man
might choose for his last plunge. The whole day was spent on deck, and I
felt my spirits sinking when we approached the mouth of the Ohio, which
forms a striking contrast to the Mississippi. The Ohio at its junction
with the Mississippi, called by the Indians “the Father of Waters,” is
broader than the parent stream, and after the junction of three such
rivers as the Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio, their mingled streams do
not appear larger to the eye than any of them singly, which arises from
the depth and rapidity of the united current. The same difference of
colour in the waters which I had remarked at the confluence of the
Ottawa and St Lawrence, and of Missouri and Mississippi, were here
perceptible. The limpid and placid Ohio, dammed up by the larger stream,
and resting without motion between smooth and verdant banks, resembled
the stillness of sleep. The Mississippi was like maddened intoxication.
Well might the French of old, after traversing the death-like
Mississippi, and becoming acquainted with the Ohio, term it _La Belle
Rivière_, the beautiful river, a title it justly merits. For some time
the winding course and full stream reminded me of sailing on a lake, yet
the banks are monotonous, being thinly settled, with the background hid
from view, and but for the lovely tints which autumn had imparted to the
foliage, would have been without much interest. On advancing up the
Ohio, the channel became bound by sand plains, which are covered when
the water is high, and many of the banks of the numerous islands showed,
by the size of the trees, the successive depositions that are made to
them, and I was enabled to count six rows of the same species rising in
different gradations.
We at last reached what are termed the Falls of the Ohio, a name given
to a succession of rapids, caused by a stratum of rocks crossing the
channel of the river, and form the only obstruction to navigation in the
whole course of the Ohio. The falls are about two miles in length, and
the descent in that distance twenty-four feet. When the river is high,
vessels pass up and down the falls, and when low, through a canal lately
opened on the south side of the river, commencing a little below
Louisville, and extending nearly two miles. The Helen Mar had some
difficulty in getting over a bar and rapid below the entrance to the
canal; on reaching which I walked forward to Louisville, over a verdant
smooth turf, which I enjoyed greatly, after so long an absence from
nature’s best carpeting.
The water in the Ohio was still low, although our captain had often been
told on the voyage the river had risen eighteen inches in course of a
few days. The rising of the Ohio and most of the western rivers in
autumn is observed to take place annually, without a considerable fall
of rain occurring in the lower part of their courses. This is generally
accounted for by the diminished temperature of the atmosphere lessening
evaporation on the earth’s surface. In all probability it is more owing
to suspended vegetation, the falling leaves and decaying herbage ceasing
to throw off moisture.
In the course of our voyage from St Louis to Louisville, a distance of
six hundred and thirty miles, passengers were received and landed at
many intermediate places, but the majority of them continued the whole
distance. My time being spent chiefly in viewing the different objects
on the rivers and their banks, I did not become intimate with any
individual, except one, Mr Gemble, with whom I afterwards travelled by
stage to Columbus in Ohio, and met at the Washington Hotel, on my return
to New York. In course of conversation I learned he resided at St Louis,
had travelled in the Rocky Mountains, and was on his way to the eastern
shore to visit an aged parent. We spent a considerable part of fourteen
days in close conversation, without making the slightest enquiry into
each other’s birth, parentage, or past and present pursuits in life. On
leaving St Louis, I observed him reading several books which he took
from his portmanteau, and left exposed on his berth, as if to court
others to read them. My only companion of this kind at the time was a
small volume, entitled, “a View of the Valley of the Mississippi,” which
I often referred to, and found useful, and which Mr Gemble asked me to
allow him to look at, although travellers in American steam-boats
generally seize on every book within reach, without obtaining the
consent of the owner to peruse it. I had thus an opportunity of asking a
return of the civility of Mr Gemble, which he readily granted, adding,
“I would be happy to allow every person on board to read my volumes.”
The first that I opened was one of small dimensions, entitled, “_The
Times of Christ_,” which the preface stated to be from the pen of the
gifted Harriet Martineau, which appeared in England as the “Traditions
of Palestine,” and had been reprinted with a more suitable title, and
the omission of some matter which the publisher did not consider in good
taste with the rest of the work. The other volumes were of a religious
nature, which might have led me to suppose Mr Gemble a spiritual
teacher; but there was nothing in his conversation or deportment marking
or violating this character. He was a tall, thin gentlemanly-looking
person, well informed, and apparently possessing as much real
philanthropy as any individual I ever met.
The other passengers consisted of both sexes, of all ages, and of
different professions. The ladies were never seen but at meals, keeping
their own cabin at other times. The gentlemen were well dressed, and
invariably civil to each other, General A—— being the least polished in
manners and appearance of any of the company. The captain was an
unassuming person, whose voice was seldom heard, and never in connexion
with an oath, either in the cabin or amongst the crew. There was only
one cabin passenger addicted to swearing, who had formerly been captain
of a steam-boat on the Mississippi, and was now engaged in trade at St
Louis. The officers of the army, and one or two others, passed part of
the evenings in playing cards, at a game which I did not understand, and
at which they did not seem to hazard high stakes. On such occasions, I
was sometimes amused at the group assembled around the table. Military
men of the highest rank, when eagerly intent on the game, were joined by
the steward boys without their coats, familiarly seating themselves at
table, and looking on the hands of cards. The chewing and spitting of
tobacco were incessant, the carpet serving as a receptacle for the
moisture, when boxes were not within immediate reach; and on some cold
evenings the fire in the cabin was almost overcome by squirting of
tobacco juice.
The comfort of the passengers was little attended to in the general
arrangements of the vessel. Three times a-day, at breakfast, dinner, and
supper, which also includes the repast known in the Eastern States, and
in Britain, by the name of tea, the table was stored with supplies of
animal food and vegetables, so very ample, that on one occasion I
numbered thirty-one dishes placed on the supper-table for twenty-two
passengers, and, perhaps, in no instance was there ever less than one
dish for each individual. The food was coarsely prepared, and all placed
on the table at once, and nearly cold before the company sat down. There
was always a second company, consisting of part of the boat’s
establishment, and such deck passengers as chose to pay for their food;
and sometimes a third company collected, independent of the people of
colour, servants or slaves to the passengers, and who satisfied their
hunger on the veranda. The succession of companies received no additions
to the fare originally placed on the table, and such an injudicious
arrangement was the means of rendering it less palatable to all. The
vessel called three or four times a-day at different places, yet, on one
occasion, bread could not be had for breakfast, and milk or cream were
more than once awanting without any notice being taken of it at table.
There was no water for drinking or washing but what the rivers supplied,
and this was even the case on the turbid Mississippi, the water of which
was allowed to separate from the sediment before being presented at
table. The inhabitants of the Western States are considered by those of
the Eastern ones as wanting in refinement, and the table being loaded
with the substantialities of life, while good water and milk, two of the
most desirable of liquids, and which might at all times have been
obtained on shore, were awanting, appeared a strong indication of
coarseness. The passengers drank in the greatest moderation in my sight,
only taking a tumbler of spirits and water occasionally when playing at
cards, and never tasting wine or any kind of spirits at table at other
times. I did not observe a person of any description on board, during
the voyage, that appeared in the least degree intoxicated. The water for
washing was always fresh drawn from the river, and I thought the
Mississippi more likely to stain than clean any face. Many of the
gentlemen attempted to clean their teeth and mouths with such mud, which
I did not pass within my lips. My dressing-case did not contain soap,
which I thought an article likely to be had everywhere, but on
application to the steward, I was told there was none on board. An
application to the captain, or some of the passengers, would have
procured me this commodity, at least for shaving with, but there was
something so ungracious in the steward’s refusal, that I was unwilling
to hazard another denial. From necessity I had learned to shave without
a mirror, while in the northern parts of Illinois, and now attempted the
operation without soap, which I found so easy, that I continued the
practice until reaching New York.
The cabin being in the stern of the vessel, I spent much of my time in
the forecastle, for the purpose of seeing the scenery, which brought me
in contact with the crew, and many of the deck passengers. In this class
of people I found a considerable change of manner from any I had
formerly come in contact with. Many of them swore disgustingly, and
possessed a general levity and coarseness of manner, but in no instance
did I experience incivility.
I had witnessed a great many cases of fever in course of my journey, and
the accounts received in Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri, represented
the season as unhealthy, and the population suffering considerably from
its effects. On reaching the Mississippi I learned cholera had scourged
the inhabitants in a dreadful manner, in the course of summer, and had
now subsided. Several cases of fever occurred amongst the deck
passengers during the voyage, and a poor child sunk under its attack. A
rude coffin was prepared by a person on board, and the remains of the
little innocent were interred at Smithland, on the mouth of Cumberland
river, Kentucky. On the third day of the voyage, one of the firemen, a
man of colour, became unwell, and I observed him rolling about near the
furnace, and suffering much, unheeded by those around him. At last the
attention of the captain was called to him, and the services of a
medical gentleman, who was a cabin passenger, were requested. He
pronounced it a bad case of cholera, and the poor fellow was carried on
shore soon afterwards in the agonies of death. The consternation on
board was great, and many of the passengers deserted the vessel.
Towards the mouth of the Ohio, vast numbers of geese were seen sitting
on the extensive sand bars. The deck passengers often fired rifles at
geese and other birds without effect. Two or three bald-headed eagles
were seen quite near the vessel, and on Diamond Island five or six wild
turkeys were observed running from the side of the river into the
forest, and was the only time this bird was seen in a live state by me.
The vessels on the waters in the valley of Mississippi burn wood, and
supplies are found everywhere on the banks of the rivers, which are
speedily conveyed on board, with the assistance of the deck passengers,
who are bound to aid in the operation. During the time of taking in
wood, I almost universally examined vegetation on the banks, and
obtained many new seeds by so doing. I also had an opportunity of
conversing with the inhabitants, who, in such situations, depend chiefly
on this trade for the means of subsisting. I was surprised at the
vessels not using coal, which is very abundant in many places on the
banks, and could be easily transported to places where it is not. I am
satisfied coal would be found cheaper than wood, and if depots were
formed, and provided with a crane to put the coal on board, the saving
of time would be considerable in course of the voyage. None of the
furnaces are, however, at present constructed for burning coal, and a
considerable time is likely to elapse before it gets a fair trial.
In coming up the Ohio, I observed a great number of boats, or rather
boxes or arks, of various sizes and shapes, floating down the river
towards New Orleans, filled with farm produce, including sheep. These
arks are built of strong timbers, fitted up with apartments for the
navigators, and sold on reaching New Orleans, the crews returning by the
steam-boats. The numerous steam-boats do not seem to have diminished
this mode of conveying farm produce, and probably many of them are built
on shallow streams in the interior of the country, where steam-vessels
never can have access. These arks are simply kept in the current, which
floats them down, and in this country, where the farmer has so much
leisure time in autumn and winter, must be a cheap mode of conveying
produce to market.
Louisville is situated on the south bank of the Ohio, at the mouth of a
small stream called Bear Grass, in the State of Kentucky. It consists of
several streets running parallel to the river, and the houses are
composed of brick. There are many steam-engines employed in sawing wood,
grinding wheat, and other purposes. Louisville is the most thriving
place on the waters of the coast connected with the Mississippi, and
contains about 14,000 inhabitants; it is 1448 miles distant from New
Orleans by the river, and 590 from Washington.
On arriving at Louisville I could not obtain admittance into either of
the two principal hotels, and afterwards had sufficient evidence to
satisfy me the denial was entirely owing to my shabby appearance. My
third application was at the American Hotel, a large and excellent
establishment; and feeling somewhat annoyed at the manner of my previous
refusals, I asked the bar-keeper if he would accommodate me for the
night, and he answered in a smart tone of voice, “Certainly, sir; we are
servants of the public, but I hope you will eat something.” The inmates
of the house were assembling for supper in the Exchange room, and on
ringing the bell, the rush up stairs into the banqueting apartment was
excessive, there being nearly two hundred individuals assembled. The
company were settled down at two large tables, and every thing passed
off well, but not in the same quiet way I had observed at other large
establishments.
The gentlemen were fashionably dressed, and several of them swore and
stormed at the waiters in a manner I never witnessed elsewhere in
America, which was perhaps owing to this being a slave state, and the
individuals themselves slave owners. The waiters were chiefly people of
colour; and much as I did feel disgusted at the language which in two or
three instances was directed to them, yet I had often heard waiters in
Britain similarly addressed.
My bed was in a small apartment, indifferently lighted, in which were
two bedsteads. The Exchange-room was as well filled in the morning with
expectants for breakfast as it had been in the preceding evening; and
although Louisville is in a slave state, and the establishment of the
hotel chiefly composed of such beings, a white person, well dressed and
of good appearance, stood at the entrance of the house with the room,
and brushed every gentleman’s coat and hat who required his services.
Having seen the town before nightfall, I at one time thought of visiting
the theatre, for the purpose of seeing Mr Forrest, a celebrated native
actor, of whom the people of the States are extremely proud. On
referring to the playbill in the Exchange-room, I observed a line in
small type at the bottom, intimating that people of colour were not
admitted. This appeared to me so absurd, to distinguish human beings at
a place of public amusement by their complexion, and so illiberal, that
I altered my intention. In walking through the streets in the evening, I
was surprised at seeing so few people, and so many rats. These creatures
were swarming, and I saw more of them in half an hour than I had seen in
the previous course of my life.
Next morning, I embarked on board the Champlain for Cincinnati, where I
found Mr Gemble and another passenger from the Helen Mar. The Champlain
was an excellent vessel, with the cabin in the bow, which is much more
agreeable than when it is in the stern, by allowing objects to be seen
when approaching, instead of receding from them. The steam-boats on the
eastern waters of the United States, and the Canadas, have their cabins
in the hull of the vessel like those of Britain, and a deck above where
passengers sit or walk. A different arrangement is followed on the
western rivers. The lower part of the vessel is allotted for stowing
away heavy freight, and the boilers are placed in the bow, with a cabin
for the gentlemen behind, and one immediately above, for the ladies. The
fore-part of the second deck is for the deck passengers. In other cases,
the place for deck passengers is in the stern of the first deck, and the
second one is divided, forming the ladies’ and gentlemen’s cabins. The
Helen Mar was of the first arrangement, and the Champlain of the second.
The size of the steam-vessels varies from eighty to five hundred tons,
the smallest size being best suited for the summer months, when the
rivers are low, and the largest can only be used from November to July.
They are narrow, and stand so much above the water, as to resemble a
floating-house. Almost all of them use high pressure engines, and are
considered worn out in five or six years, except those made of live oak
which last from eight to ten years. The perishable nature of the western
steam-boat property is, no doubt, in part owing to the materials of
which it is composed, and the navigation, which, from currents,
sand-bars, and sunken trees or snags, is the most trying and dangerous.
In passing from Louisville to Cincinnati, a distance of 132 miles, the
Champlain was well-filled with passengers, who landed and embarked at
many intermediate places. The table was by no means so lavishly stored
as that of the Helen Mar, and could not contain all the passengers, some
of whom, after dinner, filled the berths of others without ceremony,
stretching themselves at full length, with their boots on, and sleeping
for hours. The deck passengers, being in the stern of the lower deck,
were not seen, and the cabin ones exhibited a great diversity of
character. I got into conversation with an Irishman, who resided in
Kentucky, which had become his adopted country. He was plainly but
respectably dressed, and evidently without much education. After stating
the advantages of the States in many respects, and how determinedly all
the inhabitants would fight in their defence, he asked me where I came
from? On answering St Louis, he rejoined, “where were you _raised_?” It
was my practice, while in the Western States, to answer readily every
question that was put to me, for the purpose of ingratiating myself with
the people, by which alone I could obtain information from them, and
ensure personal comfort; and I must do them the justice to say, they
seldom, in this respect, exceeded the people of my native country. On
the present occasion there was something so prying in the Irishman’s
expression of countenance and tone of voice, that I resolved to tease
him a little, and to his second question answered, “in the East.”
“What part of the East?”
“Europe.”
“What part of Europe?”
“Mungoswells.”
“Where is that?”
“Near Haddington.”
“In what country is that?”
“Scotland.”
Here he told me that he was a native of Ireland; and I answered his
language had made me aware of that the moment he entered into
conversation.
“Where do you stay?”
“I am a wanderer on the face of the earth.”
“What are you doing?”
“Following the course of the river.”
“What would you do if you were on shore?”
“Follow my nose.”
“What would you like to be employed at?”
“In moving from place to place.”
“Where do you reside?”
“He had been told I was a wanderer, and might rely on what had been
stated.” During this conversation, he did not seem to feel the import of
my answers, and continued in conversation sometime afterwards.
While standing on deck, near the chimney, around which many gentlemen
were assembled, for the heat it afforded, a person who was chewing
tobacco, sprinkled a mouthful of juice on the tails of my surtout, which
happened to be waving in the wind. As soon as the accident occurred, he
pulled out his handkerchief, and when wiping off the filth, apologized
for his conduct. There was something so sincere in the gentleman’s
manner, and in his anxiety to remove the stain, that induced me to say,
he could not have spit on any thing more worthless; and notwithstanding
the nature of our introduction, we continued on intimate terms for the
remainder of the voyage. There was nothing in America to which I was so
long of getting reconciled, as the copious spitting, and my repugnance
was chiefly overcome by the accident to my surtout. The use of tobacco
in every shape is, to a certain extent, an abomination, and the
preference or dislike given to one mode of consumption over another,
arises from habit. The smoking Dutchman, chewing American, and snuffing
Scotchman, may be objects of disgust to each other, and all of them
perhaps abhorred by a fastidious person who dislikes the use of tobacco
in any shape.
I have already alluded to the shabbiness of my attire on leaving
Montreal, and after having travelled so long and so roughly, often not
unrobing for the night, my clothes had become literally threadbare. My
hat was originally of white silk-web of bad quality, and now almost
without wool. My appearance would have betokened mendicity in Britain,
and procured pecuniary assistance from the humane; but in the countries
through which I had latterly travelled, charity is never asked nor
bestowed, yet my garb had its advantages: It brought me in contact with
all classes of the inhabitants, without exciting suspicions of any kind,
and enabled me to see them in their real character. My unpretending
appearance and deportment could not call forth the democratic rudeness
which assumed or presumptuous superiority seldom fails to experience, in
almost every portion of the United States; and the sycophant, if such
exists in the valley of the Mississippi, had nothing to attract his
notice.
The safety of my person and property may have been aided by the meanness
of my dress, which possessed no allurement to the robber, thief, or
swindler. My position as a traveller in the Western United States, and
Upper Canada, differed from that of many British travellers who have
visited the countries, and I shall leave others to judge if it was
calculated to promote the object of my journey.
In passing up the Ohio, the temperature of the atmosphere became so
cold, that I deliberated on the propriety of adding to my clothing,
which was the more necessary from having left my flannel shirt in
Michigan. The matter was decided by my shoulders and elbows making holes
in my coat; after leaving Louisville, and on reaching Cincinnati, I
adopted winter clothing, and concealed my external infirmities with a
coarse great-coat, which hath since amused my friends in Scotland, by
the queerness of its shape, and passed by the name of Mrs Trollope.
The scenery of the Ohio above Louisville, possesses more interest than
the lower part of the river, the hills on the banks being higher, and
the country better settled. Some beautiful villas are seen on
approaching Cincinnati, which we reached before noon.
When walking about Cincinnati, I observed, in several booksellers’
windows,—“Men and Manners in America, by the author of Cyril Thornton,”
printed in large characters, and purchased the volume. Mr Stewart’s
“Three Years’ Residence in America,” and Mrs Trollope’s “Domestic
Manners of the Americans,” had been sent to New York with my trunks, but
as the walking part of my journey was over, Cyril Thornton’s work was
not expected to incommode me. I had heard of the publication being in
the press before leaving Britain, and on opening the book, I naturally
turned to the account of the country in which I was then situated. The
description of the company in the steam-boats of the Ohio, was so
different from what I had experienced, that I shall quote the author’s
remarks in passing down from Wheeling to Cincinnati:—“These western
regions are undoubtedly the chosen abode of plenty. Provisions are so
cheap, that no one ever dreams of economy. Three times a-day was the
table literally covered with dishes, wedged together as closely as a
battalion of infantry in solid square. Though the passengers were only
twenty in number, there was always dinner enough for a hundred. Joints,
turkeys, hams, and chops, lay spread before us in admired confusion.
Brandy bottles were located at judicious intervals, and porter was to be
had on paying for it. I had asked for wine, but in vain. So, being at
the luxurious city of Cincinnati, and tolerably tired of the poison
called brandy, I sent for a bottle of champagne from the inn. The bottle
came, but on being opened, the contents were much more like sour cider
than champagne. In short, the stuff was decidedly too bad for drinking,
and was accordingly pushed aside. But the appearance of this
anomalous-looking flask evidently caused some commotion among the
passengers. The wine was probably one which few of them had tasted, and
many of them were evidently determined to seize the earliest opportunity
of enlarging their experience. ‘I should like a glass of your wine, sir,
if you have no objections?’ said my old enemy the Virginian doctor. I
immediately pushed the bottle to him, and he filled his tumbler to the
brim. Observing this, the persons about him, without ceremony of any
kind, seized the bottle, and its contents incontinently disappeared.
“In regard to the passengers, truth compells me to say that any thing so
disgusting in human shape I had never seen. Their morals and their
manners were alike detestable. A cold and callous selfishness, a
disregard of all the decencies of society, were so apparent in feature,
word, and action, that I found it impossible not to wish that their
catalogue of sins had been enlarged by one more—hypocrisy. Of hypocrisy,
however, they were not guilty. The conversation in the cabin was
interlarded with the vilest blasphemy, not uttered in a state of mental
excitement, but with a coolness and deliberation truly fiendlike.
“There was a Baptist clergyman on board, but his presence did not seem
to operate as a restraint. The scene of drinking and gambling had no
intermission. It continued day and night. The captain of the vessel, so
far from discouraging either vice, was one of the most flagrant
offenders in both. He was decidedly the greatest gambler on board, and
was often so drunk as to be utterly incapable of taking command of the
vessel. There were few female passengers; but with their presence we
were only honoured at meals. At all other times they prudently confined
themselves to their own cabin.
“One circumstance may be mentioned, which is tolerably illustrative of
the general habits of the people. In every steam-boat there is a
_public_ comb and hair-brush suspended by a string from the ceiling of
the cabin. These utensils are used by the whole body of the passengers,
and their condition the pen of Swift could alone adequately describe.
There is no tooth-brush, simply, I believe, because the article is
entirely unknown to the American toilet. A common towel, however, passes
from hand to hand, and suffices for the perfunctory ablutions of the
whole party on board. It was often with great difficulty that I procured
the exclusive usufruct of one, and it was evident that the demand was
not only unusual but disagreeable.”
There is so much discrepancy between this account and what I
experienced, that it may be difficult for some people to believe the
same part of the world is alluded to. The time which elapsed between Mr
Hamilton’s visit and mine was a little more than three years, and in
course of that time the manners and customs of the people must either
have undergone an extraordinary change, or we must have viewed things
through a different medium. It is far from my intention to charge that
gentleman with exaggeration or intentional misrepresentation, but
objects are so well known to be affected by circumstances, that it may
be worth while to enquire how he was situated to enable him to see and
judge impartially. With his career in life and the place he occupied in
British society, I am utterly unacquainted, and unless be is something
immeasurably above ordinary humanity, both would influence his opinions.
But it appears to me unfortunate that a man of such powers, as he has
proved himself to be possessed of, should have sought information
regarding “Men and Manners,” in a part of the world, accompanied by a
servant, where he was ashamed to avail himself of his services. This
circumstance of itself was sufficient to sour him with all the country
contained, as well as to create in others an unfavourable impression
towards himself. It was surely an odd proceeding to send “for a bottle
of champagne from the inn,” when he was on board a steam-boat. The
reason assigned for having done so—“tolerably tired of the poison called
brandy”—perhaps accounts for much he has written regarding America—a
potation of this liquid, followed by “champagne,” being one of the most
deceptious mediums which things can be viewed through, and I shall leave
future visitants of the United States to determine whether much he has
described was reality, or the fantasies of his imagination.
My situation was different from Mr Hamilton’s, not having tasted any
liquid but water and tea since my departure from Montreal, with
exception of half a glass of spirits amongst water at Detroit, and the
glass of wine at St Charles, formerly mentioned. I do not recollect of
seeing brandy on the dinner-table of any steam-boat in America; and feel
quite certain that neither wine nor spirits of any kind were on the
table of those of the Ohio and Mississippi. I did not see or hear of an
intoxicated person on board of any steam-vessel but those of Lake
Ontario. “A _public_ comb and hair-brush, suspended by a string from the
ceiling of the cabin,” or placed in any other position in the vessel,
was not observed by me in the steam-boats of America, and I am sure they
did not exist in the vessels I sailed with. Afterwards, I observed a
hair-brush suspended by a string in a passage-boat on the Erie Canal,
and they are occasionally found in the bar-rooms of inferior hotels.
People are not, however, compelled to use them, and they are certainly
an accommodation to some individuals. A tooth-brush was used by almost
every passenger in the Helen Mar, and I remarked dozens of storekeepers
at Detroit washing their teeth in the mornings at the door, and in one
or two instances narrowly escaped being soused with superfluous water
from tumblers they had been using.
The manners of the people at St Louis, and from that place to
Cincinnati, are unquestionably different from the inhabitants on the
shores of the Atlantic, being rougher in all respects, but I did not
witness any thing approaching to rudeness or disgusting vulgarity
amongst cabin passengers. The firemen, engineers, and many of the crew
of the steam-boats were habitual swearers, and so were many of the
stage-drivers and passengers in travelling through Ohio. But this bad
habit did not pervade the inhabitants generally with whom I came in
contact.
On landing at Cincinnati, I entered an excellent hotel in a square
fronting the river, the name of which I have forgotten. On applying at
the bar I was requested, as usual, to enter my name; and on asking for a
bedroom to wash, a bell was rung, and a man of colour, who answered it,
was desired to conduct me to No. 23, and to see that I got every thing I
wanted. This was before any alteration had been made in my dress, and
water, towel, and soap, were supplied me. Indeed, water in my bedrooms
was furnished everywhere in the United States, with the exception of
that part of my tour from Detroit to Louisville.
I had time to examine the greater part of the town before dinner, after
which I walked to the top of the hills on the east side of the city, and
then to the west end. The situation of Cincinnati, as seen from the
height, is singularly fine, being in the midst of a circle of hills,
through the centre of which the beautiful Ohio flows. The diameter of
the circle is about three miles, and the river is not seen beyond the
circle. The city is on the north side of the stream, and on the south,
or Kentucky side, stand the thriving villages of Newport and Covington,
divided by the river Licking, which joins the Ohio. Cincinnati contains
about 30,000 inhabitants, the buildings are of brick, and many streets
run parallel and at right angles with the river. I found the market
plentifully supplied with every commodity, in stalls and waggons, and
the bustle and activity of the place was much greater than I expected to
find in a city so remotely situated. The streets were clean at the time
of my visit, and the general appearance of the place indicated
considerable advancement in luxury. Coals sell at ten cents, wheat at
fifty-six, Indian corn at twenty-five, and oats at twenty-two cents per
bushel. I shall quote a few particulars relating to Cincinnati, from a
recent Philadelphia publication, entitled, a “View of the Valley of the
Mississippi.”
“There are _ten founderies_, including a brass and bell foundery, and
one for casting types.
“There are three or four _cotton factories_, about fifteen _rolling
mills, and steam engine factories, and shops_.
“There are _five breweries_.
“There is a _button factory_, and a _steam coopering establishment_.
“Two _steam flour-mills_, and five or six _steam saw-mills_.
“There are probably not less than forty different manufacturing
establishments driven by steam-power.
“The imports, of which dry goods are a principal item, exceed
$5,000,000. The exports, consisting of various articles of produce, of
which pork is the chief, and of manufactures, of which iron articles,
and cabinet furniture, are the chief, probably exceed the imports in
value.
“There are two banks, and a savings’ fund association; two museums, very
interesting to strangers; and two hospitals.
“There is a company which supplies the city with water, which is
elevated by steam power from the Ohio.
“There are several literary and scientific institutions, of which the
Lyceum, Athenæum—established by the Catholics, and which is really a
college, and cost about $20,000—Medical College, having seven or eight
professors, Academy of Medicine and Law, and Theological Seminary are
the chief.
“In 1831, there were eighteen public schools, embracing 2,700 scholars,
at an expense of $6,610 for teachers’ wages. This city is imitating the
noble example of Boston, in establishing free-schools for the whole
population. The number of private schools and academies is great.
“There are three library companies, which have, in all, nearly 10,000
volumes of books.
“There are thirty-four charitable associations, and twenty-five
religious societies.
“There are six Presbyterian churches, five Methodist, four Baptist, two
Episcopal, one Lutheran, one Associate, one Catholic, one Unitarian, one
Friends’ Meeting, one Swedenborgian, one Jewish Synagogue, one African,
one Christian.
“There are three daily, two semi-weekly, six weekly, (four of which are
religious,) two semi-monthly, two monthly, and one quarterly, (medical,)
publications—sixteen in all, issued in this city.”
In four months, during 1831, there were issued from Cincinnati press,
86,000 volumes, of which 20,300 were of original works. In the same
time, the periodical press issued 243,200 printed sheets.
Cincinnati is generally said to be in a declining state, but I could not
discover evidence of decay. Houses were building, and bricks
manufacturing in all directions. Streets and roads were undergoing
extensive improvement in and around the city, while villas were being
erected on the surrounding heights. The ship yards were full of bustle,
and craft of various kinds were rising into existence. At the close of
the year 1832, one hundred and thirty steam-boats had been built at
Cincinnati.
The city is built on the site of some Indian tumuli, one of which I saw,
near the western extremity, in tolerable preservation. I hope the
inhabitants will protect this monument of a former race, by enclosing it
with an iron railing, and adorning the foreground with flowers.
I attended the theatre in the evening. Amongst the players were
Sinclair, Thorne, Mrs Knight, and Miss Clara Fisher. The audience were
numerous, and somewhat noisy in their plaudits.
The agriculture, seen from the waters of the Mississippi and Ohio, is
very limited, and which I cannot well describe. Cultivation becomes
extended on approaching Cincinnati, and fields of wheat were seen on the
sloping banks. The hills, three or four hundred feet high, which I
ascended, to the east of the city, were covered with verdant pasturage
of grasses and clovers, on which excellent cattle and sheep were
browsing. Waggon loads of pumpkins were passing into the town, and I
observed many working oxen eating this vegetable in courts.
CHAPTER XXVII.
_Journey from Cincinnati to Detroit—Macadamized
road—Lebanon—Passengers—Agricultural Notices—Pawpaws—Cider
making—Hotels of the United States—Customs of the
Country—Columbus—Details to Sandusky—Mr Hamilton on the Prospects of
the Union—Sandusky—Cider making—Perrysburg—Mamee—Ohio—Michigan._
At two o’clock next morning, I was seated in a stage-coach, on my way to
Canada, through the state of Ohio, and no less than two hours were spent
in calling and waiting on different passengers, before getting out of
Cincinnati. I was delighted to find Mr Gemble amongst the number who
intended to have gone up the Ohio to Wheeling, by steam, but learning
the water was too low to admit of vessels sailing with certainty, he was
induced to proceed by land. When day dawned, we were passing through an
undulating country, over an excellent macadamized road, newly formed by
a company, in the most complete manner, to the distance of twelve miles.
There was a toll-bar on the road, which is to be extended to
Springfield, in the state of Ohio, and there communicate with what is
called the National road. We passed through the village of Lebanon, the
parent seat in this country of the religious sect of Shakers. The
village is of considerable size, and the bar-room of the hotel was
filled with a set of drunkards, which I had not seen any thing
resembling since leaving Canada. Xenia, in Green County, is a neat
place, and we reached Springfield after dusk.
Next morning we left Springfield at three o’clock with the same stage
party that had come from Cincinnati the day before. When light appeared,
the ground was thickly covered with hoar-frost, and ice was seen in
several places. This was on the 12th October, in 40 degrees of latitude.
Ten miles from Springfield the stage had to wait half an hour for a
change of horses, the driver being in bed when we arrived. Here one of
the passengers, a lady travelling with her husband, complained of being
sick and cold. A cup of coffee was suggested to her. The hostess of the
tavern, a very old woman, boiled water and prepared coffee with
incredible despatch. I know not whether the beverage was good, but it
was agreeable to see the old creature moving about like a girl in her
teens, and manifesting anxiety to please her guests. The lady was from
Baltimore, and had resided several months in the west, on account of her
health. She had a most delicate appearance, a sylph-like form, regular
features, and a lively manner. Notwithstanding the coldness of the
weather, and her delicate state of health, she was dressed in silk
stockings, and it was with reluctance she consented to draw a pair of
worsted ones over her shoes, which her husband purchased for her. Like
many of her countrywomen, she had feet and ankles of exquisite
formation, and perhaps in the display of this gift of nature, she made a
sacrifice of her health.
We reached Columbus in time for dinner, where I remained for the night,
the stage proceeding on with the party for Wheeling. I found myself
pleasantly situated with the passengers from Cincinnati, who conversed
sensibly on a variety of subjects, and made themselves agreeable to each
other. On leaving Columbus, each of them came up, and bade me farewell.
In particular, I regretted parting with Mr Gemble, whose moral worth and
unobstrusive manners pleased me the more I was in his company.
The country from Cincinnati to Springfield, Ohio, was chiefly a good
clay of a yellow colour. The surface undulating, and in some places
picturesque. The farm-houses were of large size, and generally brick.
The soil was dry, and where seen, in making the road, six feet deep, of
yellow coloured clay. There were no furrows in the fields, and wheat was
above ground, and well sown. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were
seen browsing on pastures as verdant as if in spring. Numbers of
handsome hogs were fattening, in enclosures of worm fence, on Indian
corn, without straw to lie on. Hogs are generally fatted in the open air
in America, and whether kept in enclosures or small pens I never saw one
of them have straw, and they make their beds in mud or sand. The waggons
seen moving towards Cincinnati were in charge of men who rode on the
shaft-horse, whether the vehicle was drawn by two or more horses. The
country for twenty miles east of Springfield is level, rather wet, and
not so fertile as that from Cincinnati. After passing this distance,
there are many small prairies, most of which are wet and uncultivated.
This tract is thinly settled, the soil, clay of a dark colour, and
inferior to the yellow tinged clay. The bottoms of the Scioto are fine
rich soil.
After dining at Columbus, I strolled into the woods north of the village
in search of the pawpaw fruit, which I had heard much extolled by some
of my fellow-travellers. This plant grows plentifully as underwood on
most of the rich soils in this part of the country. I found the fruit
growing on slender trees or shrubs fifteen or twenty feet high; it
resembles, in size, shape, and colour, the jargonelle pear of Britain. I
found them variable in quality, and the best might rank with a
third-rate pear of Scotland. The forests were now clothed in the
splendour of autumn, and the richness and variety of their tints was of
the most pleasing description. The oak, maple, beech, and dogwood,
seemed to vie in brilliancy, and I often observed many leaves on the
same lateral branch, exhibiting every shade from vivid green to the
darkest purple.
I found so much to interest me in the productions of the forest and its
feathered inhabitants, that my walk was insensibly prolonged, till at
length the declining sun reminded me of the necessity of returning to
Columbus. On emerging from the forest, I observed people engaged in
making cider, and walked towards them to enquire my way, having lost the
direction of the city, by wandering in the woods. The apples were
collected into an immense heap, from which two men were engaged in
carrying them to a mill, consisting of vertical cylinders, turned by the
power of two oxen, which reduced the fruit to a pulp. A shovel was used
in removing the pulp, which, by means of straw and wattles, was piled
above a receptacle for the juice, and pressed by a powerful screw. The
people engaged in cider-making, asked me to partake of the expressed
juice, and to fill my pockets with the choicest fruit. I learned from
them cider was very plentiful this season, and did not pay much more
than the expense of making, being delivered at Columbus for 75 cents per
barrel of 32 gallons. Some forest land, of medium quality, in the
neighbourhood, had lately been sold by public sale at $2½ and $2¾ per
acre. Wheat at the present time was worth 50 cents, and Indian corn 20
cents per bushel.
I found my distance from Columbus was five miles, and supper was over
before I reached the National hotel. On stating to the bar-keeper I had
been detained in the woods, he ordered me fresh tea; and although I
mentioned to him it was not my practice to eat meat in the evening, a
newly broiled fowl was placed before me, and a variety of preserves.
Next morning, after the usual preparatory bell had tolled for breakfast,
the landlord called me personally, stating, that as I was a stranger in
the country, and might not be aware of its customs, the breakfast would
be on the table in ten minutes. The waiters were all white people, smart
in their calling, and attentive to guests.
I found the hotels gradually improve on leaving Springfield, Illinois,
and many of those in the state of Ohio appeared to be every thing a
reasonable person could wish, with the exception of the want of
single-bedded rooms. Water was always placed for washing without being
asked for, and a bell communicated with each room. The waiters and helps
of the States are said to dislike being summoned by the sound of a bell,
and many travellers have assigned this as a reason for the want of
bells. But such a feeling in all probability never existed, as the
guests of every hotel are first warned, and afterwards summoned to each
meal, by sound of bell, and it is preposterous to say waiters are averse
to the like call. Meals are served at fixed hours, when all the company
sit down together. In good establishments, the principal joints at
dinner are carved by the landlord and waiters, often at side tables, and
the company seldom assist in the office. Abundance of iced water is on
the table during summer, occasionally cider, and very rarely brandy.
Wine may be had for payment. The company leave the banqueting room when
the meal is over, and do not gain admittance until summoned. A number of
smart attentive waiters skip about the room, and often anticipate your
wants. They are generally addressed in a whisper, and in all the eastern
states of the Union a loud tone is never heard at table. The conduct of
some people in Britain, who command attention by oaths and noise, does
not suit this region of America, where the mild and unassuming are never
neglected. A friend of mine, on his first entrance to the public tables
of New York, spoke to the waiters in the strains he had unfortunately
accustomed himself to in Britain; they pretended not to hear him, and he
found difficulty in getting his plate changed; while his companions, by
adopting a different course, had the waiters pressing them to the
principal dishes on the side-table, and paying the most assiduous
attention. Civility is at all times duly appreciated by the
establishment of hotels, and foreigners will find much annoyance in
attempting to dispense with it. The morning and evening meals are served
with the same regularity, and ample attendance, as the dinner, &c. A
profusion of animal food is placed on the table, and the quantity
increases in proportion to want of refinement in the people of the
district. Boots and shoes are deposited at night in a fixed place, where
they are found cleaned in the morning. Slippers, and bedroom lights, are
obtained at the bar. As a general rule, wants are stated at the bar, and
from this place orders are given to servants for supplying them. All the
bells of the house communicate with the bar-room, and the bar-keeper
sees that the call of a bell is attended to. Throughout the whole of my
intercourse with hotels in the United States, I did not receive an
uncivil answer, or experience neglect from any one connected with the
establishment, and every request which I made was cheerfully complied
with. The landlords are much less fawning in manner than those of
Britain, but equally civil and anxious to oblige.
The hotels of America are such as might be expected from the state of
the country. Servants being particularly expensive, and difficult to be
had, is the cause for having fixed hours for meals, and one table for
the company as well as for most orders passing through the bar-keeper.
Were another system adopted, a greater number of servants would be
necessary, and there would be more difficulty in obtaining them. The
plain and meagre furnishing of the hotels may also be traced to
expensiveness of servants, and so also may the number of people which
frequent them. The furniture of the bedrooms, consisting of a bedstead,
without posts or curtains, and counterpane of small size, washing-stand,
and solitary chair, seemed to me admirably fitted for promoting a
circulation of air, which was the greatest luxury during the season I
was in the country, and I doubt much if bedroom furnishings will be more
ample in summer, when the wealth of the population becomes greater than
it now is.
The circulation of air, in connexion with shade from the sun-rays, will
account for the use of the calash as a head-dress for females, so
generally met with in the States of New England, and which I imagine to
be the most agreeable summer wear that can be devised. On the same
grounds may be justified the New England gigs with hoods, having an
aperture behind; thus the customs of a country will generally be found
to have originated from circumstances connected with it, and to be well
suited to the inhabitants.
Columbus is the capital of the state of Ohio, and beautifully situated
on the east bank of the river Scioto. The public buildings are extensive
and good. The village having been founded in 1812, the buildings, which
are chiefly of brick, are well arranged. The state prison is a new and
substantial stone-building. The population is about 3000. A lateral
branch of the Ohio and Erie canal communicates with Columbus.
Next morning, after breakfast, I left Columbus for Sandusky city,
formerly called Portland, on Lake Erie, passing through Delaware,
Marion, and Bucyrus. The first part of the road lay on the banks of the
Whetstone, a small river with very little bottom land. The country was
thinly settled; and the soil second rate. The night was passed in a very
bad hotel at Marion, and by three o’clock in the morning I was again in
the stage. When day dawned, the stage was passing through a country
between oak-opening and prairie, seemingly wet and unsettled. A good
deal of forest was also passed through, thinly peopled. I reached
Sandusky a little after nightfall.
The stage was nearly empty all the way from Columbus to Sandusky. A
young joiner travelled from Columbus to Marion. Two striplings rode a
mile or two near the village of Caroline, who were rude swearing
fellows, and smelling strongly of onions and whisky.
The hotel at Sandusky was small and crowded with passengers. I found
myself ushered into a small bedroom, with two individuals, with a bed
for each. One of the persons rose in the middle of the night, smoked
tobacco, and made himself as disagreeable as possible. The other opened
the window to admit air to purify the sty. This was the only unpleasant
circumstance that occurred to me from sleeping in apartments with
others, and sufficiently illustrates how disagreeable the practice may
occasionally become.
Sandusky city is a small village on Lake Erie, containing perhaps five
or six hundred souls, and has a considerable trade. There is plenty of
stone in the immediate neighbourhood, and some of the buildings are of
this material. I found the price of beef at Sandusky was from three to
five cents per lb., and hind quarters of mutton four cents. Wheat was 75
cents per bushel.
It was my intention to have proceeded from Sandusky to Detroit by one of
the steam-boats passing up Lake Erie, but tempestuous gales of wind a
day or two before my arrival, having totally wrecked one vessel and
disabled another, I was detained two days in suspense. I could not go
far from the hotel during this period, lest a steamer should pass in the
interval; and my time was in part occupied in reading Mr Hamilton’s
beautifully written work of “Men and Manners in America.”
In the early part of my tour, I remarked that, without sound judgment to
discriminate and appreciate information, the gleanings and impressions
of a traveller will be as apt to mislead as instruct, and his
lucubrations will often be found more illustrative of his own character
than of the people and country he visits. When penning this sentence, I
had not another individual in view than the one treated of, and it is,
perhaps, fraught with more truth than may at first sight appear. The
wielders of the pen and pencil seem to be fond of portraying their own
likeness, and the narrative of most travellers will be found stamped
with their character. Truth ought to be the first object with every
writer of travels, and is perhaps, like beauty, “when unadorned, adorned
the most,” and wherever it is lost sight of, the highest endowments may
become prostituted in misleading others. It must, however, be admitted,
that the best intentioned writer may become the dupe of appearances,
resulting, perhaps, from his own feelings and prejudices. There are also
some writers who aim at producing an effect on their readers unconnected
with the subject treated of, and in such cases a traveller’s narrative
frequently becomes absolute fiction. I shall not say in which class of
travels “Men and Manners in America” may be ranked, or whether parts of
the work appertain to different classes; but I do not hesitate in
saying, that the author’s conclusions did not always appear to me to be
just or consistent with sentiments expressed in other parts of the work.
This seemed to be particularly the case in some speciously written
paragraphs on the political prospects of the Union, which many of the
people in Britain, who read the work, did not perhaps observe.
“In that city (New York) a separation is rapidly taking place between
the different orders of society. The operative classes have already
formed themselves into a society, under the name of ‘_The Workies_,’ in
direct opposition to those who, more favoured by nature or fortune,
enjoy the luxuries of life without the necessity of manual labour. These
people make no secret of their demands, which, to do them justice, are
few and emphatic. They are published in the newspapers, and may be read
on half the walls of New York. Their first postulate is ‘EQUAL AND
UNIVERSAL EDUCATION.’ It is false, they say, to maintain that there is
at present no privileged order, no practical aristocracy, in a country
where distinctions of education are permitted. That portion of the
population whom the necessity of manual labour cuts off from the
opportunity of enlarged acquirement, is in fact excluded from all the
valuable offices of state. As matters are now ordered in the United
States, these are distributed exclusively among one small class of the
community, while those who constitute the real strength of the country,
have barely a voice in the distribution of those loaves and fishes,
which they are not permitted to enjoy. There does exist, then, they
argue, an aristocracy of the most odious kind,—an aristocracy of
knowledge, education, and refinement, which is inconsistent with the
true democratic principle of absolute equality. They pledge themselves,
therefore, to exert every effort, mental and physical, for the abolition
of this flagrant injustice. They proclaim it to the world as a nuisance
which must be abated, before the freedom of an American be something
more than a mere empty boast. They solemnly declare that they will not
rest satisfied, till every citizen in the United States shall receive
the same degree of education, and start fair in the competition for the
honours and the offices of the state. As it is of course impossible—and
these men know it to be so—to educate the labouring classes to the
standard of the richer, it is their professed object to reduce the
latter to the same mental condition with the former; to prohibit all
supererogatory knowledge; to have a maximum of acquirement, beyond which
it shall be punishable to go.
“But those who limit their views to the mental degradation of their
country, are in fact the MODERATES of the party. There are others who
still go farther, and boldly advocate the introduction of an AGRARIAN
LAW, and a periodical division of property. These unquestionably
constitute the _extreme gauche_ of the Worky Parliament, but still they
only follow out the principles of their violent neighbours, and
eloquently dilate on the justice and propriety of every individual being
equally supplied with food and clothing; on the monstrous iniquity of
one man riding in his carriage, while another walks on foot, and, after
his drive, discussing a bottle of Champagne, while many of his
neighbours are shamefully compelled to be content with the pure element.
Only equalize property, they say, and neither would drink Champagne or
water, but both would have brandy, a consummation worthy of centuries of
struggle to attain.
“All this is nonsense, undoubtedly, nor do I say that this party, though
strong in New York, is yet so numerous or so widely diffused as to
create immediate alarm. In the elections, however, for the civic offices
of the city, their influence is strongly felt; and there can be no
doubt, that as population becomes more dense, and the supply of labour
shall equal, or exceed the demand for it, the strength of this party
must be enormously augmented. Their ranks will always be recruited by
the needy, the idle, and the profligate; and, like a rolling snow-ball,
it will gather strength and volume as it proceeds, until at length it
comes thundering with the force and desolation of an avalanche.
“This event may be distant, but it is not the less certain on that
account. It is nothing to say, that the immense extent of fertile
territory yet to be occupied by an unborn population, will delay the day
of ruin. It will delay, but it cannot prevent it. The traveller, at the
source of the Mississippi, in the very heart of the American continent,
may predict with perfect certainty, that, however protracted the
wanderings of the rivulet at his feet, it must reach the ocean at last.
In proportion as the nearer lands are occupied, it is very evident that
the region to which emigration will be directed must of necessity be
more distant. The pressure of population, therefore, will augment in the
Atlantic States, and the motives to removal become gradually weaker.
Indeed, at the present rate of extension, the circle of occupied
territory must, before many generations, be so enormously enlarged, that
emigration will be confined wholly to the Western States. Then, and not
till then, will come the trial of the American constitution; and until
that trial has been past, it is mere nonsense to appeal to its
stability.
“Nor is this period of trial apparently very distant. At the present
ratio of increase, the population of the United States doubles itself in
about twenty-four years; so that in half a century it will amount to
about fifty millions, of which ten millions will be slaves, or, at all
events, a degraded caste, cut off from all the rights and privileges of
citizenship. Before this period, it is very certain that the pressure of
the population, on the means of subsistence, especially in the Atlantic
States, will be very great. The price of labour will have fallen, while
that of the necessaries of life must be prodigiously increased. The
poorer and more suffering class will want the means of emigrating to a
distant region of unoccupied territory. Poverty and misery will be
abroad; the great majority of the people will be without property of any
kind, except the thewes and sinews with which God has endowed them; they
will choose legislators under the immediate pressure of privation; and
if in such circumstances, any man can anticipate security of property,
his conclusion must be founded, I suspect, rather on the wishes of a
sanguine temperament, than on any rational calculation of probabilities.
“It is the present policy of the government to encourage and stimulate
the premature growth of a manufacturing population. In this it will not
be successful, but no man can contemplate the vast internal resources of
the United States,—the varied productions of their soil—the unparalleled
extent of river communication—the inexhaustible stores of coal and iron
spread even on the surface—and doubt that the Americans are destined to
become a great manufacturing nation. Whenever increase of population
shall have reduced the price of labour to a par with that of other
countries, these advantages will come into full play; the United States
will then meet England on fair terms in every market of the world, and,
in many branches of industry at least, will attain an unquestioned
superiority. Huge manufacturing cities will spring up in various
quarters of the Union, the population will congregate in masses, and all
the vices incident to such a condition of society will attain speedy
maturity. Millions of men will depend for subsistence on the demand for
a particular manufacture, and yet this demand will of necessity be
liable to perpetual fluctuation. When the pendulum vibrates in one
direction, there will be an influx of wealth and prosperity; when it
vibrates in the other, misery, discontent, and turbulence will spread
through the land. A change of fashion, a war, the glut of a foreign
market, a thousand unforeseen and inevitable accidents are liable to
produce this, and deprive multitudes of bread, who but a month before
were enjoying all the comforts of life. Let it be remembered, that in
the suffering class will be practicably deposited the whole political
power of the state; that there can be no military force to maintain
civil order and protect property; and to what quarter, I should be glad
to know, is the rich to look for security, either of person or fortune?
“There will be no occasion, however, for convulsion or violence. The
_Worky_ convention will only have to choose representatives of their own
principles, in order to accomplish a general system of spoliation, in
the most legal and constitutional manner. It is not even necessary that
a majority of the Federal legislature should concur in this. It is
competent to the government of each state to dispose of the property
within their own limits as they think proper, and whenever a _numerical_
majority of the people shall be in favour of an Agrarian law, there
exists no counteracting influence to prevent, or even retard its
adoption.
“I have had the advantage of conversing with many of the most eminent
Americans of the Union, on the future prospects of their country, and I
certainly remember none who did not admit that a period of trial, such
as I have ventured to describe, is, according to all human calculation,
inevitable. Many of them reckoned much on education as a means of
safety, and, unquestionably, in a country where the mere power of
breathing carries with it the right of suffrage, the diffusion of sound
knowledge is always essential to the public security. It unfortunately
happens, however, that in proportion as poverty increases, not only the
means but the desire of instruction are necessarily diminished. The man
whose whole energies are required for the supply of his bodily wants,
has neither time nor inclination to concern himself about his mental
deficiencies, and the result of human experience does not warrant us in
reckoning on the restraint of individual cupidity, where no obstacle
exists to its gratification, by any deliberate calculation of its
consequences on society. There can be no doubt, that if men could be
made wise enough to act on an enlarged and enlightened view of their own
interest, government might be dispensed with altogether; but what
statesman would legislate on the probability of such a condition of
society, or rely on it as a means of future safety?
“The general answer, however, is, that the state of things I have
ventured to describe, is very distant. ‘It is enough,’ they say, ‘for
each generation to look to itself, and we leave it to our descendants
some centuries hence to take care of their interests as we do ours. We
enjoy all manner of freedom and security under our present constitution,
and really feel very little concern about the evils which may afflict
our posterity.’ I cannot help believing, however, that the period of
trial is somewhat less distant than such reasoners comfort themselves by
imagining; but if the question be conceded that democracy necessarily
leads to anarchy and spoliation, it does not seem that the mere length
of road travelled over is a point of much importance. This, of course,
would vary according to the peculiar circumstances of every country in
which the experiment might be tried. In England, the journey would be
performed with railway velocity. In the United States, with the
advantages they possess, it may continue a generation or two longer, but
the termination is the same. The doubt regards time, not destination.
“At present the United States are perhaps more safe from revolutionary
contention than any country in the world. But this safety consists in
one circumstance alone. _The great majority of the people are possessed
of property_; have what is called a stake in the hedge; and are,
therefore, by interest, opposed to all measures that may tend to its
insecurity. It is for such a condition of society that the present
constitution was framed; and could this great bulwark of prudent
government be rendered as permanent as it is effective, there could be
no assignable limit to the prosperity of a people so favoured. But truth
is undeniable, that as population increases, another state of things
must necessarily arise, and one, unfortunately, never dreamt of in the
philosophy of American legislators. The majority of the people will then
consist of men without property of any kind, subject to the immediate
pressure of want, and then will be decided the great struggle between
property and numbers; on the one side hunger, rapacity, and physical
power; reason, justice, and helplessness on the other. The weapons of
this fearful contest are already forged; the hands will soon be born
that are to wield them. At all events, let no man appeal to the
stability of the American government as being established by experience,
till this trial has been overpast. Forty years are no time to test the
permanence, or, if I may so speak, the vitality of a constitution, the
immediate advantages of which are strongly felt, and the evils latent
and comparatively remote.”
On re-perusing the quoted paragraphs, the love of champagne and brandy
was conspicuous in the second one, and the whole of them seemed like a
maudlin dream, in which truth and probability were altogether wanting,
told in strains admirably fitted to delight the ear and obscure the
understanding of the reader. To me, who had made an extensive tour in
the territory of the United States, and from all I had seen personally,
and learned from the best sources of information, concluded that
nine-tenths of the surface are still unemployed in the production of
human sustenance, the idea of an agrarian law was ludicrous in the
extreme. Whether there is such a society as “_The Workies_,” and my
after enquiries while at New York rendered the point doubtful, did not
seem to affect the matter, as the only legitimate inference that could
reasonably be deduced from the sentiments which Mr Hamilton has imputed
to its members, is, that America does not exempt humanity from
aberrations of mind. This seems to be admitted in the third paragraph,
where it is stated, “all this is undoubtedly nonsense,” yet the dream
which is confessedly founded on man’s infirmity, has been received by a
portion of the British public as infallible wisdom. The quotations being
founded on “nonsense,” do not admit of criticism. An ordinary mind,
however, cannot fail of observing that in almost every paragraph, the
author raises up and demolishes a fantasy, and turns from one position
to another, like fevered excitement tossing on an uneasy couch.
The following quotations from “Men and Manners in America” are of a
different tenor from the preceding ones. “It is the fashion to call the
United States the land of liberty and equality. If the equality be
understood simply as implying that there exists no privileged order in
America, the assertion, though not strictly true,[2] may pass. In any
wider acceptation, it is mere nonsense. There is quite as much practical
equality in Liverpool as New York. The magnates of the Exchange do not
stand less proudly in the latter city than in the former; nor are their
wives and daughters less forward in supporting their pretensions. In
such matters legislative enactments can do nothing. Man’s vanity, and
the desire of distinction, inherent in his nature, cannot be repressed.
If obstructed in one outlet, it will only gush forth with greater
vehemence at another. The most contemptible of mankind has some talent
of mind or body—some attraction—virtue—accomplishment—dexterity—or gift
of fortune—in short, something real or imaginary, on which he arrogates
superiority to those around him. The rich man looks down upon the poor,
the learned on the ignorant, the orator on him unblessed with the gift
of tongues, and he that is a true-born gentleman, and stands upon the
honour of his birth, despises the _roturier_ whose talents have raised
him to an estimation in society, perhaps superior to his own.
Footnote 2:
“Not strictly true, because in many of the states the right of
suffrage is made dependent on a certain qualification in property. In
Virginia, in particular, this qualification is very high.”
“Thus it is with the men, and with the fairer sex assuredly it is not
different. No woman, conscious of attraction, was ever a republican in
her heart. Beauty is essentially despotic—it uniformly asserts its
power, and never yet consented to a surrender of privilege. I have
certainly heard it maintained in the United States, that all men are
equal, but never did I hear that assertion from the lips of a lady. On
the contrary, the latter is always conscious of the full extent of her
claims of preference to admiration, and is never satisfied till she
feels them to be acknowledged. And what zephyr is too light to fill the
gossamer sails of woman’s vanity! The form of a feature, the whiteness
of a hand, the shade of a ringlet, a cap, a feather, a trinket, a smile,
a motion—all, or any of them, or distinctions yet finer and more
shadowy, if such there be—are enough, here as elsewhere, to constitute
the sign and shibboleth of her fantastic supremacy. It is in vain,
therefore, to talk of female republicans; there exists, and can exist,
no such being on either side of the Atlantic, for human nature is the
same on both.
“In truth, the spirit of aristocracy displays itself in this commercial
community in every variety of form. One encounters it at every turn.”
It must be evident to every person who has visited the United States,
that wealth has already obtained a prominent place in many parts of the
country. That there are distinctions and classes in society, will not
admit of doubt; and from the constitution of human nature, it cannot be
otherwise in a civilized and numerous population. The wealthy, the wise,
the proud, the profligate, the virtuous, and the vicious, will associate
with people of the same character, in despite of every means that could
be devised for their separation; and it is perhaps well for society that
such is the case. The vain and frivolous are harmless creatures. The
proud man may puff himself into bigness, like the frog in the fable
imitating the ox, and assume the emblems of luxury and pomp with
impunity. The form of aristocracy meets the eye in all the social
relations of life. There is no such thing as equality in the abstract
sense of the term, with the political privileges of the inhabitants, the
right of franchise varying in different States, and a qualification
being requisite in all of them.
_Liberty and equality_, as understood in Britain, is not to be found
amongst the inhabitants of the United States. The people must obey the
laws, which impartially affect the whole population, except in the case
of suffrage; a privileged class by inheritance, creation, wealth, or
purchase, being unknown. The laws are founded on the principles of
freedom, and the mass of the population may be said to be politically
equal. Here liberty and equality of the United States is applicable only
to the political condition of the inhabitants, and in this relation must
be taken in a restricted sense.
Aristocracy seems inseparable from civilized society, and an individual,
by attending to the communings of his own heart, will perhaps be
convinced that its spirit pervades the life veins of humanity. In almost
every quarter of the globe, it has at some period attained strength, and
from the earliest ages, the earth has been watered with the blood of the
best and bravest of mankind, in attempts to check the workings of its
spirit. The form of aristocracy is already raised in the United States,
and many of the citizens, when conversing with me on the institutions
and inhabitants of their country, strongly displayed a feeling of
aristocracy. If there is latent danger to the constitution of the Union,
in the present state of things, it is from the seeds of aristocracy.
Human nature is said to be the same on both sides of the Atlantic, and
the population of the United States and Britain having sprung from a
common source, and inheriting the same natural dispositions, the growth
of aristocracy in the former might be inferred from the experience of
the latter, provided all the circumstances affecting the inhabitants
were similar. But history does not furnish a parallel to the United
States, and the experience of past ages, and analogies of other
countries, are inapplicable to them.
The United States were first settled by people seeking relief from
religious persecution, who, in the neighbourhood of Boston, worshipped
the Author of the Universe according to their conscience, which liberty
had been denied them in England. It may, perhaps, not be going too far
to suppose the finger of Providence pointed the way to the pilgrims,
since which, many of the persecuted of the human race have found a
sanctuary in the same territory. When the conduct of the mother-country
goaded the colonies to rebellion, they shook off her yoke at an
enlightened period of the world, with the history of past ages before
their eyes, and almost without an obstacle to adopt the advantages, and
shun the evils recorded. The career of the States is evidence of the
judicious proceedings of the inhabitants, and the many privileges which
they enjoy can only be lost by their own corrupt and sinful venality.
The United States having risen and struggled into existence in
opposition to despotic power, a dislike of tyranny, and love of liberty,
pervades the inhabitants, and the institutions of the country are
calculated to nurture and retain such feelings. The unexampled and
growing prosperity of the country—the recent progression in the
governments of almost all European states, and more particularly in
Britain—the mother-country—will, doubtless, tend to strengthen the
principles on which the Union has been formed. But human nature often
departs from principle, and there cannot be a doubt that aristocracy,
which is already deep-rooted and flourishing amongst the people, will,
when aided by wealth and luxury, and their inseparable evils, destroy
the Union. The whole history of mankind warrants such a conclusion. The
event is certain, but many circumstances lead me to suppose it is yet
distant, such as the want of entail laws, the extensive franchise, and
the probability of institutions altering with the progress of the
people. In the meantime, they have a constitution, “the immediate
advantages of which are strongly felt, and the evils latent, and
comparatively remote.”[3]
Footnote 3:
Men and Manners in America.
Seeing no prospect of a steam-boat calling at Sandusky, I hired a horse
in the afternoon of the second day, and rode to the village of Lime,
where I obtained a seat in the mail-stage for Detroit.
Arriving at Lime some time before the stage, I walked a short distance
to some people engaged in making cider. The fruit was not crushed, as in
other instances seen in the country, but grated by a revolving cylinder,
which seemed to be an improved mode of extracting the juice. The grating
apparatus had been manufactured at Rochester, the other parts of the
machine were erected on the day of my visit by a person in the village;
and it is scarcely possible to conceive any thing more rudely and
ill-constructed than they were. On admiring the beauty of the fruit,
which was brought forward in waggon loads, Mr Russel, the owner of the
orchard from which they came, offered me grafts of any kinds I chose to
fix on. When he learned I was a foreigner on a tour through the country,
he asked me to look at the orchard, and conducted me to it. He raised
the trees from seed, and had planted 450 fourteen years ago, twenty-four
feet asunder, and the branches now interlope. Many of the kinds bore
delicious fruit, which was generally small in size, from the numbers on
the tree, and many branches were broken with the weight of fruit. There
seemed a demand for Mr Russel’s cider, which he sold at $1 per barrel,
of thirty-two gallons, when newly expressed, and he was unable to
satisfy some applications which were made in my presence. The orchards
are numerous in all parts of America, and most of the trees having been
raised from seed, it is probable many excellent varieties may be met
with deserving of propagation.
From the village of Lime, which is situated on a ridge, by which name it
is sometimes known, a beautiful prairie is seen, and which I believe is
entirely settled. The soil appeared somewhat wet, which ditching would
easily remedy, but this practice seemed altogether disregarded.
Soon after leaving Lime, light disappeared, and I was allowed to remain
three or four hours in a most uncomfortable hotel at Lower Sandusky,
situated on a river of the same name. When morning dawned, I was
travelling through a thickly-wooded country, and over a road, on the
surface of which lime rock was protruding in the manner of honey-comb.
The coach in which I rode being of a particular construction, the
roughness of the road rendered the journey disagreeable. My progress was
like a funeral procession, thirty-one miles occupying twelve hours. The
jolting of American stages, and more especially when passing over one or
two logs lying across the road, is truly annoying, and sometimes
dangerous, from contusions which maybe received, but I had never
experienced any thing like the motion on the present occasion. For the
first time since reaching the American shore, I was slightly afflicted
with headach, and felt the sensation of fatigue.
I breakfasted at a log-house on the banks of the river Portage, where I
was struck with the florid complexion and robust figure of a young man
employed in cutting pork into small pieces at the door, and which a
girl, apparently his sister, was salting and packing into a vessel. On
approaching him, I discovered he did not understand the English
language, but one of the inmates of the house acting as interpreter, he
told me he was from Hanover, and on his way to settle in Michigan.
I passed through the village of Perrysburg, situated on the south bank
of the river Mamee, which flows into the south-west point of Lake Erie,
and is navigable to the village. It is a thriving place, and when the
canal, now forming, which is to connect the waters of the Wabash and
Mamee is completed, it will soon become a place of importance.
On the opposite side of the river, and a little higher up than
Perrysburg, is the village of Mamee, consisting of fifteen or twenty
houses, where I dined, and arrived at Munroe in the evening. Next day I
reached Detroit, and travelled part of the way with an overgrown man,
who wore a blue cotton frock-coat above his clothes, and a pair of
double-barrelled guns over his shoulders. He spoke the English language
imperfectly, and stated he was from Saxony, and had just settled in
Michigan. His family was at Detroit, and he expected ten thousand of his
countrymen to join him next season.
The soil from Lower Sandusky, on the road by Perrysburg to Michigan
boundary, is not of first-rate quality, though good. The surface is
level, and thinly settled. Throughout the whole of my travels in the
state of Ohio, the country was chiefly forest, and seemingly not more
than one-sixth of the surface cleared of wood. Perhaps the other lines
of road were still more thinly settled. The state contains above one
million of souls.
The part of Michigan seen in passing from Mamee to Detroit is thickly
wooded, wet, and very thinly settled. There is no part of the United
States which disappointed me so much as Michigan. Having passed through
its whole breadth from Detroit to Niles, and along the shores of Lake
Erie, and the banks of the river Detroit, I met with more indifferent
soil in these routes, than in all the other Western States put together.
There may be much good soil in Michigan, which did not come under my
notice, but I am quite satisfied its eligibility for settlers has been
greatly overrated. An inhabitant of New England, who may have resided
all his life on poor soil, thickly covered with forest, can hardly fail
of being pleased with seeing the timbered land and oak-openings of
Michigan, while the small and beautiful prairies will impart ecstasy,
and it is, perhaps, to the accounts of such people that the territory is
indebted for its celebrity. Michigan, compared with the New England
States, is rich, and a desirable place of settlement, but in all
respects inferior to districts laying to the south and west.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
_Journey from Detroit to New York—Western Lakes which form the River
St Lawrence—Cleveland—Erie Canal—Cold Weather—Canal Packets—Sabbath
School Children at Rochester—Black Children—Slavery in the United
States—Agricultural Notices—Washington Hotel—Transition
from Rudeness to Refinement—Travelling—Cheap Land—State
Election—Inhabitants Consulted in Political Matters—Arrival at
Liverpool._
After spending five days in Upper Canada, it became necessary to wend my
way to New York. The weather for weeks past had been tempestuous. The
trips of the steam-boats on the lakes had been interrupted, and the
ferry-boat at Detroit had, on more than one occasion, ceased to ply from
the violence of the wind. Had there been a stage through Upper Canada,
from Sandwich to Niagara, I would have preferred travelling to New York
by land, but dreading the state of the roads, and length of journey in
passing round the west end of Lake Erie, I decided in going from Detroit
to Buffalo by steam. Vessels were still leaving Detroit for the Western
Lakes, notwithstanding the advanced period of the season, and I saw the
Michigan steamer sail for Green Bay, with troops on board.
Lake Superior is the most Westerly and largest of the lakes which divide
Upper Canada from the United States, and the accumulated waters of which
form the river St Lawrence. Its length is about 360 miles, and its
average breadth 109 miles. The outlet of the lake is the river St Marie,
through which the waters flow, and are not navigable for sailing vessels
from the strength of current.
Lake Michigan is stated to be 300 miles long, and 50 wide, branching off
from the east end of Lake Superior, and their united waters pass into
Lake Huron. On the west side of Lake Michigan, is situated the village
of Green Bay and Chicago, to which steam-vessels ply occasionally from
Detroit.
Lake Huron is 218 miles long, by 180 broad, and has several large
branches running into Michigan and Canada. Michilimackinac, or Mackinaw,
is an island on which there is a village of the same name, at the
entrance of the lake, and Goderich is on the east shore.
The waters of the three-mentioned lakes flow through the river St Clair,
and form a lake of the same name, which is about ninety miles in
circumference.
From Lake St Clair issues the river Detroit, which falls into Lake Erie,
having the villages of Detroit, Sandwich, and Amherstburgh, on its
banks. Lake Erie is stated at 290 miles long, and about 50 broad, and
from the many thriving villages on its margins, has a most extensive and
increasing trade. Its waters are much shallower than those of any of the
other lakes, and more easily agitated, which renders the navigation
dangerous in boisterous weather. From Lake Erie, flows the Niagara, in
the channel of which are the celebrated falls of the same name, and
empties itself into Lake Ontario, which is 171 miles in length, and 40
wide. The depth of water is said to be very great. On issuing from Lake
Ontario, the waters assume the title of the river St Lawrence.
I sailed from Detroit on the morning of the 25th October, with moderate
wind, which increased towards noon, and the vessel anchored under the
lee of an island in Lake Erie during the night. Next day we put into
Cleveland for an hour or two, and reached Buffalo towards the close of
the third day.
Cleveland is in the state of Ohio, on the banks of Lake Erie, and at the
mouth of the Ohio and Erie canal, which connects the waters of the lake
with the river Ohio. It is a place of considerable trade, and rising
with rapidity.
On reaching the Eagle hotel at Buffalo, I found three or four gentlemen
who were known to me, and whose conversation on European matters I
greatly enjoyed after my western tour. Next day, after breakfast, I took
a canal-boat for Schenectady.
In passing down the canal, on the banks of the Niagara, several new
houses were erecting on the Canada side, and as they were of large size,
I considered the circumstance evidence of improvement.
The Erie canal connects the waters of the river Hudson with that of Lake
Erie. It commences at Albany, and terminates at Buffalo, the length
being 363 miles. Besides the main cut, there are lateral branches
intersecting the country in all directions. One branch communicates with
Lake Ontario at the village of Oswego, and I believe another branch is
in progress to communicate with one of the tributary streams of the
river Ohio. The height of Lake Erie above the Hudson is 568 feet, and
the lockage of the canal 688 feet. The breadth of the canal is forty
feet at the top, twenty-eight at the bottom, and the depth of water four
feet.
The Erie canal was formed by the State of New York, the operations
commencing in 1817, and ending in 1825. The revenues of the canal are so
ample, that the rates of charge were greatly reduced in 1833, and it is
expected the whole debt will be discharged in 1838; after which, the
charges will be diminished, so as the sum collected may be just
sufficient to keep the works in repair. The canal is therefore like a
public highway, from which no revenue will be exacted from the
inhabitants, and is an instance of the advantages they enjoy from the
wisdom with which public matters are conducted.
The traffic on the canal is already so extensive, that the barges are
sometimes detained a long time in passing the locks. In all probability
it will be quite unable to convey the traffic in two years hence,
although a double set of locks were to be constructed throughout the
whole length of the canal. The enterprise of the inhabitants of this
State is adequate to any emergency, and relief to the crowded canal will
be found in a railway. There is already a railway from Albany to
Schenectady, and in 1833 a railway was contracted for to proceed from
the latter place to Utica, all of which are situated on the banks of the
canal. A railway may therefore be said to be already formed on the banks
of the canal one-third of its length; and there is little doubt of its
being speedily extended all the way to Buffalo, and ultimately along
Lake Erie into Illinois. However advantageous canals may have hitherto
been found in the United States, such a conveyance is incompatible with
the order of things that is arising. The population is advancing so
rapidly towards the west, that the intercourse between the Eastern and
Western States must enormously encrease, while canals are shut by ice
for nearly five months in the year. In this view railways, which afford
communication during the whole season, will be had recourse to, and are
admirably adapted to the country and climate. There is abundance of iron
and coal in the United States, and the substitution of railways for
canals will be aided by the rapidity of conveyance, the application of
steam power, and unobstruction from frost.
While passing down the canal, the temperature of the atmosphere became
cold; on the third morning, snow covered the ground to the depth of
three inches, which did not entirely melt by the influence of the sun;
and although the canal was not frozen, in consequence of its waters
being kept in motion by the incessant traffic, the pools on the banks
were covered with ice several inches thick. On reaching Albany, I
learned Fahrenheit’s thermometer had stood twelve degrees below the
freezing point on the 29th October, and at New York ten degrees.
The canal packets were crowded with passengers all the way from Buffalo
to Schenectady, who made themselves agreeable to each other, and time
passed as pleasantly as the nature of things would admit. Two of the
gentlemen on board seemed to be clergymen, with whom I conversed a great
deal, and was invited to spend some days with one of them. Few things in
America seem more extraordinary than the sleeping accommodation of the
packets. The seats on which the passengers sit during day, around the
sides of the vessel, open out by means of hinges, and having the outer
extremities supported by small ropes from the roof, form beds. A second
tier of beds is formed by frames hooking to the sides of the vessel, and
supported from the roof by ropes. The sleeping place for the ladies is
separated from the gentlemen’s by a curtain, and the two rows of beds
around the sides of the packet have a close resemblance to shelves in a
British shop. The passengers are sent on the roof of the packet while
the cabin is altering from sitting to sleeping-trim, which does not
occupy more than ten minutes, and the passengers, suspended in rows when
in bed, look like strings of onions in a green-grocer’s shop. The eating
department was tolerably well managed.
There was a changing of packets three times in the length of the canal,
and a delay of twelve hours at Rochester; during which I stopt at the
Eagle hotel. When standing at the door of the hotel, after breakfast, my
attention was attracted to a number of children walking in pairs along
the pavement, attended by a few grown-up people, and on enquiry I
learned they were proceeding to church, to the anniversary meeting of
the Sabbath schools. After many hundreds of both sexes had passed,
attended by their teachers, I observed four black children forming the
rear of a school division; and being anxious to see so interesting a
sight as the assembled children, I followed the little blackamoors.
Knowing the prejudice which white people have to the coloured race in
almost every part of the world, I was disappointed at seeing the four
black children separate from the others, and instead of entering the
church they were conducted round the corner of a street into a building
within a court. I still followed the blacks, but seeing none of the
people entering the place where they were, I walked to and fro on the
outside. At the end of two minutes, about twenty black children came out
of the building, attended by five or six white men, and walked into the
church amongst the rest of the children. I occupied a place in the
gallery, and listened to a very commonplace address to the children, and
the meeting separated without religious exercises of any kind.
The want of religious exercise appeared to me to arise from a desire of
preventing any feeling of jealousy amongst sects regarding minute
differences in forms of worship and creeds of faith; and if such was the
case, the inhabitants of other countries would do well to imitate this
conciliatory proceeding. I did not observe, after getting into church,
if the black children were kept separate from the white; but the fact of
this hitherto despised race attending Sabbath schools with white
children, and being taught by white people, in the town of Rochester,
was placed beyond doubt, and gave rise to pleasing anticipations for the
improvement of their condition.
Slavery excites much interest in America, as well as in Britain, and is
so repugnant to my feelings, that before setting out on my Transatlantic
tour, I determined not to penetrate into the slave-holding states.
During my short excursion into Missouri, extending to about fifty miles,
and stay at St Charles, St Louis, and Louisville, occupying four days, I
had little opportunity of judging of the effects of slavery on the white
population, or of the state of the slaves themselves. I must, however,
say, no instance of cruelty or harshness towards the black population
came under my notice, and all of them appeared to be well clothed and
fed. Slavery, as existing in the United States, seems not to be well
understood in Britain; and I regret it is not in my power to communicate
more information on the subject.
The United States were originally English colonies, and they inherited
slavery from the mother country. This foul stain on their character may
in fairness be attributed to Britain, and accounted one of the curses
with which her misguided rulers have afflicted mankind. In 1703, the
colony of Massachusetts endeavoured to restrain the introduction of
slaves, by the imposition of a tax, and to prevent it altogether in
1767. The colony of Virginia, in 1772, petitioned the Parliament of
Great Britain on the subject, without obtaining redress, and other
colonies remonstrated at different times. In 1780, the state of
Pennsylvania, while engaged in struggling for independence, passed an
act for gradually emancipating the slaves; and since that time, eight
out of the thirteen original colonies have abolished slavery.
The United States are composed of twenty-four distinct countries, each
having a different republican form of government, and the power of
managing its own affairs—the general government legislating only in
matters connected with defence, commerce, and taxation. At the time of
the United States rising into existence, slavery engaged the attention
of the legislature, but the evil had already spread thickly over the
Southern States, and the feelings and habits of the white population in
this part of the territory being strongly in its favour, a separation
and weakening of the Union would have resulted from then pressing the
subject. It is a disputed point whether the general government can
interfere with slavery—the Northern and Southern States taking different
views. A law was passed prohibiting slavery in the district north of the
river Ohio, and east of the Mississippi, before the territory was
organized into states; but since that time, the state of Missouri, with
all the evils of slavery, has been admitted into the bosom of the Union,
which seems to determine the noninterference of the general government
in the slave question.
Slavery is felt and acknowledged to be an appalling evil throughout the
Union, and the most intelligent inhabitants of the Northern States are
also aware of its sinfulness. Here the prejudice against the sooty race
is becoming less strong; and in one instance, at least, they have been
invested with the rights of freemen. In the state of New York, men of
colour exercise suffrage when twenty-one years of age, and the census of
1825 showed 298 of them qualified to vote.[4] This act of wisdom and
liberality on the part of the legislature, cannot fail of producing a
good effect throughout the Union, and in all probability led to the
teaching of the little children at Rochester already mentioned. I hail
these advances of the coloured population with unmingled pleasure, as
sure indications of improvement in the people of both complexions.
Slavery exists by the cupidity of the white population; and in most
cases it will terminate only by their moral enlightenment. However slow
the progress of abolition may be in the United States, it cannot stand
still. Justice, humanity, and religion are already enlisted on the side
of the slave; and before the lapse of many years, his manacles will
assuredly be loosened throughout the whole territory.
Footnote 4:
Description of United States; published at New York, 1831.
The world does not perhaps afford a more striking instance of human
frailty, than the existence of slavery in the Southern States of the
Union, where the white population, after having avowedly established
governments in opposition to tyranny, and on the principle that all men
are equal, continue to exercise the most inhuman oppression towards
their coloured fellow-creatures, who are treated like the brute
creation. This anomaly illustrates how much man is the creature of
circumstances; and that with all his boasted powers of intellect, he is
unable to conquer the habits and prejudices of his youth, even when his
conduct is at variance with reason, and the principles of the religion
he professes to follow. Whether the slave-owner, who has been instructed
amidst slavery, and whose moral perception has been blunted by
education, be answerable for all the enormities which result from the
system, may be left for casuists to determine; but those who have been
more fortunately situated may well commiserate his fate, and judge
charitably of his errors.
However instrumental, under Providence, the people of Britain may have
been in obtaining freedom for the West Indian slave, they would do well
to reflect on the slow progress the question made amongst themselves,
and that many of their own countrymen connected with the colonies were
opposed to the measure of relief. If, having lived apart from slavery,
and its demoralizing effects, they claim merit for their exertions in
behalf of the slave, let them not withhold what is due to the
inhabitants of the States, who, while living amidst slaves, set an
example of emancipation which has not yet been carried to the same
extent in any British possession.
Some recent British travellers in America, in pandering to the depraved
taste of a portion of their countrymen, will not allow merit to the
states who have emancipated their slaves, on the ground that they did so
only when slave labour ceased to be profitable, and that the step
involved no sacrifice, as the able-bodied slaves were sold to the
inhabitants of other states—the aged and infirm being alone set free.
This is a most uncharitable judgment. I have not the means of
ascertaining the number of slaves that were emancipated, but contend
that other motives than selfishness must pervade some of the inhabitants
of New York state, where the coloured population are invested with
suffrages, and taught at Sabbath schools with white children. It is
true, however, the negro race is the subject of deep-rooted prejudice,
and the slave of opinion; but in what portion of the globe, inhabited by
white people, is not this the case?
There are many pretended philanthropists in Britain, who feel keenly for
the sufferings of the coloured people in distant countries, and do not
sympathize with the unfortunate beings of their own complexion at home,
who proclaim to the world the sinfulness of slavery, and yet strain
every nerve to retain the unjust fetters of their own countrymen, and
who lament the negro being an object of prejudice in the United States,
while they regard most of the white people around them with the same
feeling. In America, the inhabitants of the Southern States talk of the
tyranny of Europe and the degraded population of Ireland, while the
sound of the lash, and the moanings of their own suffering slaves, ring
in their ears; and in Britain, the cruelty of the American slaveholder,
and the injuries of his oppressed slave, are descanted on by people who
actively engage in withholding just rights from the lower orders of
their own countrymen, and remain insensible to their base condition.
Such is the shortsightedness and inconsistency of man over the world. At
a distance, he sees oppression in others, and sympathizes with its
victim, while insensible to his own tyranny and its effects at home.
Almost all the evils which afflict humanity, originate from the passions
of man. Slavery in the United States, and the degradation of the Irish
peasantry, sprung from the same source—the aristocratic feeling of the
people of England.
On the packet reaching Shenectady, a stage-coach was on the banks of the
canal waiting our arrival, into which I stepped, and soon afterwards
found myself in Albany. My first proceeding was to obtain a new hat, and
after dinner I waited on Mr Buel.
From some paragraphs I had read in newspapers while in Ohio, I learned
an agricultural exhibition was to have taken place about this time at
Albany, at which I was anxious to be present. It had, however, been held
two days before my arrival, and I learned from Mr Buel it had not
altogether come up to his expectation. A certain time must elapse before
the public acquire a taste for such things, and I have no doubt Albany
will, in this respect, set an example to other places in the States. I
had carried from Britain a few copies of the Agricultural Exhibition at
Stirling, by Messrs Drummonds, which I left with some of my friends in
the United States, and doubt not they will find them useful.
From Buffalo to Albany, by way of the canal, there is a good deal of
fine land, and much of the foliage having dropt from the trees, afforded
an opportunity of seeing the country. Indian corn was frequently seen on
the ground, though in some instances the ears had been plucked from the
standing stalks, and I was particularly struck with the puny appearance
of the crops, compared with those of Illinois. Pumpkins seemed to have
been frequently grown amongst Indian corn, and farmers generally engaged
in carrying them home. This vegetable is given to oxen and cows. In most
instances the wheat crop was above ground. Before reaching Utica, I
observed a drain forming, at no great distance from the canal, which was
the only attempt of the kind I saw executing on the American territory.
On the morning after my arrival at Albany, I set out for New York, and
the day being particularly fine, I enjoyed the sail down the river. The
trees presented a diversity of appearance, some being without a leaf,
and others in all the freshness of spring. The blue rocks were seen
behind the fading foliage, a bright sun added to the brilliancy of the
autumnal tints, and rendered the scenery more beautiful than I thought
it when seen before in the early part of June.
On reaching New York, about eight in the evening, I bent my steps
towards the Washington hotel in Broadway, and found my trunks and keys
were in the possession of the landlord, Mr Ward. After having seen some
of the most celebrated hotels in the States, such as the Tremont at
Boston, and Mr Head’s at Philadelphia, none of them pleased me so much
as the Washington hotel. No individual could be more civil,
accommodating, and attentive, than Mr Ward, and all the arrangements of
the house seemed to me extremely judicious. The tables were at all times
served with the best of fare; the hours were kept with punctuality, and
the waiters numerous and active. I cannot speak of the accommodation for
people who have private parlours. Ladies never appear at the public
table of the Washington hotel, although many of them have private rooms
in it. The traveller who dislikes the Washington hotel is more likely to
find the cause of his dissatisfaction in himself than in the
establishment.
As soon as I ascertained my trunks were in possession of Mr Ward, I
proceeded to call on Captain Smith of the Napoleon, who was to sail in a
few days for Liverpool, and from whom I secured a berth. I was still in
my travelling garb, my tattered garments being concealed by “Mrs
Trollope.” Captain Smith, in the warmth of his greeting, hurried me into
his parlour before I had time to explain my situation; and never shall I
forget my feelings on again finding myself seated on a luxurious sofa in
a fashionable room. Since leaving Montreal on the 18th August, I had not
seen a sofa, or a chair with a stuffed bottom, except one at York, nor a
window-curtain, or carpet. The walls of the rooms did not support a
painting or print of any description, and in all domestic arrangements
there was a total absence of the elegances of life. I had become so much
habituated to the state of things around me, that for the remainder of
my days I would have been satisfied with bare walls and wooden-bottomed
chairs, and regarded the gewgaws of refined society with contempt. It is
not likely the impressions of my Backwood tour will be altogether
effaced while the pulse of life beats true. I confess, however, the
facility with which I adopted the refinements of New York, and the
enjoyment they afforded, seemed to arise from something else than mere
novelty. The venison at the table of the Washington hotel, served on
plates with a flaming spirit-lamp underneath, appeared more palatable
than the coagulating fried pork of Canada, and my head seemed higher
than it had been for ten weeks before, from being surrounded with a
collar of velvet instead of rags. Man may often learn humility from his
own inconsistency and folly. I felt ashamed of my weakness.
Soon after my arrival at New York, I retired to bed. Next morning my
trunks were ransacked, and I was mortified at finding I had outgrown my
wearing apparel. Travelling may at all times be regarded as conducive to
health, by affording mental and bodily exercise, apart from worldly
cares, and more especially under the circumstances I was situated,
having had choice of time, route, and distance, without incumbrance of
any kind.
For weeks together I seldom entered a house which was not the scene of
human suffering. Associating with disease and pestilence, I conversed at
the bedside of the fever patient, and rubbed the muscles of the victim
of cholera. I had been exposed to the effects of solar heat, night-damp,
rain, cold, hunger, and fatigue. Few people perhaps ever enjoyed so
large a measure of health as fell to my lot during my wanderings in the
western parts of inhabited America, and at no period of life did I
possess so much mental and bodily vigour. While I gratefully acknowledge
my health and strength to have emanated from divine agency, I may state
my habits were strictly temperate, having denied myself every liquid but
water and tea. The trammels of society prevented me trying the effects
of absolute temperance at an earlier period. They exceeded my
expectations, and from experience, I recommend temperance to all who
wish to enjoy life.
On the second day after my arrival at New York, I attended a sale of
land by auction, which I had observed advertised. An estate fifty miles
from Albany, sold at about 7s. 6d. sterling per acre. Another, situated
in St Lawrence county, state of New York, consisting of 25,000 acres,
was knocked down, in one lot, at 1s. 1½d. sterling per acre.
On the same day, there was an election of members of Senate for the
state. The legislature of the state of New York consists of a Senate and
Assembly. The Senate contains thirty-two members, who are elected for
four years, and vacate their seats by rotation, one-fourth yearly. The
right of suffrage belongs to every white male citizen, who has attained
21 years of age, and who has resided six months in the state, and paid
taxes. Men of colour are allowed to vote if they are 21 years of age,
and have been citizens of the state three years, and possess a clear
freehold of $250.
On getting into the street after breakfast, I did not see any thing
indicating an election, the people seemed going about in their ordinary
way. There was not a crowd, or idler of any kind on the outside of the
ballot-rooms, and on entering one of them, I found nine or ten people
inside. There were two printed ballot tickets, containing a different
list of candidates, and which were supplied by individuals near the
door. The voters, on entering the room, were offered tickets, which they
handed to people on the opposite side of a counter, appointed to receive
them, and who dropt them into a box. The voter was asked his name and
place of residence, and immediately retired. The business excited little
interest, the voters almost never reading any part of the ticket handed
them, and the secretaries seldom referring to the lists for the identity
of the voter. I also entered a ballot-room in the suburbs. Here a good
many vehicles were standing around the door, and the interior, which
seemed the bar-room of a hotel, was filled with men who had evidently
been drinking spirits. Printed tickets were also here received and
delivered, as already described. Individuals may prepare tickets for
themselves.
Independent of the election of members of Senate, there was a ballot for
reducing the duty on salt, which the following circular, copied from a
newspaper of the day, will explain. “_To the Public._ After a most
thorough examination of the subject, and a full conviction of the
injustice and partial operation of the existing tax on salt of domestic
manufacture, the Legislature of this State, at their three last
sessions, successively passed resolutions for an amendment of the
Constitution, by which they would be enabled to reduce that tax or duty
from twelve-and-a-half to six cents per bushel. Those resolutions are
now submitted to the people for their approval, and are dependent for
ultimate success on the votes that may be given in their favour at the
approaching annual election.
“The words of the amendment are, ‘That the duties on the manufacture of
salt, as established by the act of the fifteenth of April, one thousand
eight hundred and seventeen, and by the section of the seventh article
of the Constitution of the State, may at any time hereafter be reduced,
by act of the Legislature of this State, but shall not, while the same
is appropriated and pledged by said section, be reduced below the sum of
six cents upon each and every bushel, and the said duties shall remain
inviolably appropriated and applied as is provided by the said tenth
section; and that so much of said tenth section of the seventh article
of the constitution of this state, as is inconsistent with this
amendment, be destroyed.’
“At a meeting, called for the purpose of considering and deciding upon
such measures as might be deemed most proper for the occasion, the
undersigned were appointed as a committee to correspond with their
fellow-citizens in the different parts of the States and to take such
steps to secure a favourable result in regard to the proposed amendment,
as in their opinion circumstances should require. They, accordingly, ask
permission to state some of the many important considerations which have
a bearing on the question, and which, they trust, will satisfy every
person, as they have the Legislature, of the propriety and obvious
necessity of the intended alteration.
“The present duty, or more properly excise, is excessively
disproportioned to the value of the salt at the works, varying from 100
to 200 per cent, and obliging the purchaser, when he sells at retail to
the consumer, to charge an advance of profit on _this_ as well as on the
net cost. And the consequence is, that a bushel of salt, at the present
time worth about twelve and a half cents at the works, must have the
duty of twelve and a half cents and the profit of the dealer added, and
altogether make the cost to the distant consumer, (independent of bills
and transportation,) from twelve to fifteen shillings per barrel,
one-half of which, and sometimes three-fourths, arising from the duty
exclusively, will be in a ratio corresponding with any reduction that
may be made in the duty. Now, the reduction anticipated by the amendment
will make a saving to the consumer of six to ten cents on the bushel, or
30 to 50 cents on the barrel, and to the state at large, exclusive of
the extra price for foreign salt, an aggregate of $200,000 per annum;
and farther, both the manufacturer and the dealer will be relieved in
part, from an onerous and troublesome exaction.
“As a source of revenue, the following brief _exposé_ will exhibit the
glaring impolicy and sinister effect of the duty. Suppose that the
quantity manufactured this year is 2,000,000 bushels.
“The duty at 12½ cents would be $250,000
————————
“Less—interest on the amount expended for the pumps, with
their necessary repairs and engineer’s salary, over and
above the sum received for pumping, say 5,000
“Superintendents’, commissioners’, inspectors’ fees, and the
office, with other charges, 10,000
————————
15,000
————————
“Balance to be paid into canal fund, $235,000
========
“Suppose, again, that 1,500,000 bushels are annually consumed
within this state, the duty would be $187,500
“The dealer’s profit (to cover losses, &c.) will be 25 per
cent, 46,875
————————
“Amount paid on _domestic salt_ by the consumers within the
state, 234,375
“The consumers of _foreign salt_ within the state owing to
this duty, are compelled annually to pay an extra price for
that article, in the above proportion, and on 1,000,000
bushels, of 56 lb. each (the lowest quantity at which it can
be estimated) is 156,250
————————
$390,625
“Thus the $234,375 paid into the canal fund, costs the people, and they
are principally the farmers and the labouring classes, $390,625, or, in
other words, they pay directly and indirectly more than two dollars for
every _one_ dollar that that fund receives from the duty—a fund, too,
that does not need it, as may be seen by the report of Mr Stilwell to
the Assembly in 1833, No. 268. If, instead of an insidious impost, the
sum received into that fund were even paid by a _direct tax_, the cost
to the consumers would not be one-fourth the amount that is now drawn
from them.
“It can be satisfactorily shown, should the object in view be attained,
that the immediate extension of the markets to vast districts of
country, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, the Canadas, and
some of the Eastern States, which have hitherto drawn their supplies
from other sources, and the consequent enlargement of the manufacture,
upon which about one-half of the duty would continue to be paid, with a
great and certain increase of canal tolls, will preserve the canal fund
undiminished, and probably exceed at once the sum that would be obtained
by a continuance of the duty at its present high rate.
“The salt-springs, judging from the consumption of brine for the last
two years, each of which require from ninety to one hundred millions of
gallons, and produced about 2,000,000 bushels of salt, without any
perceptible diminution, appear as inexhaustible as the Onondaga lake
itself. And we may, of course, confidently assume, as the state
possesses unlimited control, that there can be no monopoly, and that an
increase in the quantity made will establish a steady supply at the
lowest prices, and be a security against any sudden and extravagant
rise, which would otherwise certainly happen in the event of a war, or
interruption of our intercourse with other nations.
“The subscribers would present herewith other statements and
calculations, but for their great length, and a desire to avoid
prolixity, which have appeared upon this question in the several reports
to the Legislature, especially that of Mr Throop, made to the senate in
1831, No 56, and which most fully sustain these representations. The
committee rely on the aid of the people at large for the accomplishment
of the object in view; and in order that you may be prepared to
cooperate with them, send a quantity of ballots, to the distribution of
which at the polls, to be held in November next, they solicit your
attention.
“The following is the form of the ballot which the law prescribes for
those in favour of the proposed amendment. ‘For authorizing the
Legislature to reduce the duties on salt.’”
I rode with a gentleman in his gig to a ballot-room in the suburbs of
New York, and saw him vote for continuing the duties on salt. An immense
majority, however, of the inhabitants were in favour of reducing the
duties.
To the people of Britain it may appear somewhat strange, that the
inhabitants of a country should be consulted on a political question,
its supporters and opponents being ascertained by ballot, and the
circumstance of universal suffrage and annual parliaments prevailing in
the state of New York, will heighten the feeling. The followers of
aristocracy may denounce the proceeding, and proclaim the people
incapable of judging political matters, which are alone comprehensible
to nobility. But whatever peculiarities may exist in Britain, experience
in America has demonstrated that the powers of human intellect do not,
in any degree, depend on hereditary title, texture of garment, or weight
of purse; and that all matters connected with the domestic policy of a
state, may be made comprehensible, and intrusted to its inhabitants. The
intricacy of legislation has long been a favourite theme with the _few_
who rule the _many_. But whatever may be the state of enlightenment
regarding legislation, the people of every civilized country must be as
competent to understand it as their rulers are, both parties having the
same common sense, and against the dictates of which law-making should
not even be attempted. Whatever is clearly understood by men in power,
may be made manifest to the people, and safely left to their decision;
and when such men wish to adopt measures without seeing their way, the
people ought also to be consulted, both with a view of obtaining
instruction and lessening the responsibility and odium of failure. These
remarks are borne out by the proceedings of the state of New York
regarding the salt question.
Nobility and mobility, or by whatever names the aristocracy and people
can be distinguished, may each have their advocates; but the propriety
of placing political power in either, must be decided by the effects
produced. In measures connected with public interest, the state of New
York is not surpassed, and perhaps not equalled, by any district on
earth, and all of them originated from, and exist by, the power and
consent of the people. How different is the state of things in Britain,
where the people have hitherto had almost no voice in political matters.
If the legislation of Britain was to be regulated by collecting the
opinions of the people by ballot, many important changes would soon take
place. There is, however, much difference between the people of America
and those of Britain. In the latter, a considerable portion of the
population has been so debased by the effects of aristocracy, that they
are ill qualified for discharging political duties. This is not,
however, a just reason for withholding rights from any portion of the
community entitled to them; and should excess arise amongst the people
in obtaining or exercising their rights, the aristocracy who have
neglected and degraded them, may be considered its real authors.
Before leaving New York, it became necessary to change my American money
into that of England, which was easily effected. The chief currency of
the United States is paper, and consists of one dollar bills and
upwards. The currency passing at par in one state, is often at a
discount in the adjoining one; and as the value of almost the whole
paper currency is published weekly in the newspapers, little loss need
arise. Travellers often complain of loss sustained on paper money in
passing from one part of the country to another. I supplied myself with
large dollar bills of the United States Bank, which passes current
throughout the Union, and on changing which, the hotel keepers and
coach-office keepers asked me the direction I meant to travel, and gave
me silver coin, or such provincial bills as they knew would pass at par.
Throughout my whole tour, I did not lose a cent by depreciated paper
currency.
Notwithstanding the coldness of the weather in the end of October,
November commenced most favourably, being calm, with bright sunshine.
The ladies thronged the streets of New York in summer attire; and in
some cases fires were dispensed with. In several little excursions made
in the vicinity of the town, I remarked the graceful weeping willow
still in fresh and full leaf on the 7th November, although the
thermometer a week before had stood at ten degrees below the freezing
point; and a branch of considerable length which I pulled and brought to
Scotland, still retains the leaves.
I left New York in the Napoleon on the 8th November. The vessel was
towed by a steamer until reaching the Narrows; the day was delightful,
and looked and felt like what has often been described as Indian summer.
On the second day of the voyage the wind blew strong, and sometimes
afterwards tempestuously. The passengers were most agreeable people, but
sea-sickness prevented my enjoying their company; and we arrived at
Liverpool in sixteen days from the time of leaving New York.
A VIEW
OF THE
CANADAS AND UNITED STATES,
AS
ADAPTED FOR AGRICULTURAL EMIGRATION.
TO
CHARLES HAGART SHIRREFF,
THE
FOLLOWING VIEW OF THE CANADAS AND UNITED STATES
IS INSCRIBED
BY
HIS BROTHER,
THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER I.
_System of Nature Reproductive and Progressive, when aided by Man—Soil
is a Workshop—Nature and Man manufacturing Produce—East Lothian
Agriculture—Corn Laws—Leases—Competition for Land—Situation of
Tenants—Situation of Hinds—Prospects of the People connected with
Land._
From whatever sources arise the materials which compose and sustain
organized bodies, no symptoms of decline can be discovered in them.
Nature seems to be a system of continued reproduction, and, when aided
by man, of progressive increase.
The quantity of matter which has been organized since the beginning of
time must be immense. But whether the world is viewed in whole or in
portions, nature has no appearance of decay, but seems a manufactory
producing new fabrics, which are again reduced to their elements, in
endless succession. Generation succeeds generation, and year after year
furnishes sustenance. In the operations of nature there is no loss of
materials—and when they are aided by human industry, she generously
rewards man with an increase of her returns, and continues to reproduce
the increase. The bounties of nature seem inexhaustible, and, in some
measure, proportioned to man’s industry.
The system of nature, such as I have ventured to describe, may be
illustrated by the details of the farm. Pastures which have continued
under the influence of nature, annually yield herbage without decrease.
When they are stocked with sheep, man is rewarded with the increase of
the animals, and the herbage is reproduced as before. If the pasturage
is improved by draining and top-dressing, there will be an increase in
the returns from sheep, and the improvement in the pasturage continues
from year to year. When an improvement in the sheep is effected, there
will be an additional return from them, which, by continued attention,
becomes permanent.
When pasturage is superseded by grains and roots, their increased
returns above pasturage is the reward of cultivation; and drainage,
manures, and labours greatly increase the returns. In such a system of
farming man acts a prominent part with nature, and skilful industry is
required to continue the increase. Without skill and industry the
returns from cultivation yearly diminish, and ultimately fall short of
those from pasturage or undisturbed nature. In this case it is not
nature but man which fails to do his part, and the decrease may be
considered a just retribution.
A reflecting mind will discover much evidence of nature’s economy
throughout the universe—and the farm supplies familiar illustrations.
Cows and sheep by consuming grass, yield butcher meat, milk, butter,
cheese, and leather. These varied fabrics emanate from the same source,
and when reduced to their elements, may again enter into the composition
of grass. The straw of grain crops and other vegetable matter, after
being eaten by or trampled under the feet of animals, decomposes and
enters into wheat, barley, and turnip, or any other plant. In this
manner the vegetable and animal kingdoms assist each other, and so
perfect is the economy of nature, that none of her materials are lost in
the intercourse.
By judicious management the fertility of a farm may be maintained, or
its productions reproduced year after year; the produce usually disposed
of being the reward of cultivation. If such produce was to be consumed
on the farm, its fertility would be augmented, and the reproductive and
progressive increase of nature, when assisted by man, exemplified. But
the progression in fertility is checked by excessive luxuriance, which
diminishes the returns. Thus lavish and niggardly cultivation are both
punished, and illustrative of the maxim, to use the things of this life
without abusing them.
Man seems to have been endowed with rational powers for supplying
himself with the means of subsistence, which he accomplishes chiefly
through the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Vegetables directly minister
to his wants in various ways, and indirectly through domestic animals,
which are altogether dependent on them. The farm illustrates the direct
supply in the production of wheat, potatoes, and flax, the indirect
supply, in butcher meat and wool. In farm economy, vegetables and
animals may be viewed as manufacturing machines, assisting man and each
other, and the united results of which are necessary to the formation of
certain fabrics, such as milk. From this source man is supplied with
many of the luxuries as well as the necessaries of life. The results of
the mulberry-tree, silk-worm, and cochineal insect, are united in some
of the lustrous clothing of the fair sex.
The materials entering into organized life may be varied, and partly
unknown to man. The most important elements of them, however, are to be
found in air and water, and may, therefore, be said to pervade the
universe. Should a difference of opinion exist regarding them, it is
encouraging for the farmer to know that they abound every where within
the sphere of his operations.
The localities for manufacturing sustenance are almost as varied as the
machinery or plants. The sea, air, and exterior of every organized body
are stations, but the surface of the earth or soil is the chief. The
localities may be considered workshops, differing in merit, without
generally contributing materials towards the manufactures. Sustenance
manufactured in the sea and on the surface of the earth, equally sustain
human life, and contain the same elements.
Soil is not often regarded simply as a workshop, although no other view
of it accords with the operations of nature and of man. It does not in
any case appear to contribute materially to the formation of plants, and
is only useful to them by affording support to their roots, and holding
their sustenance, being a receptacle of air, water, decomposing
organized bodies, and mineral substances. Soil may be rendered fertile
or unfertile by imparting or withdrawing whatever promotes vegetation.
In the preparation of human sustenance, then, soil is a workshop; air,
moisture, light, heat, and decomposing organized bodies, raw materials;
plants and animals, machinery; certain minerals and labours, oil for the
machinery. In manufacturing produce, nature supplies air, light, heat,
and moisture; man furnishes organized bodies, machinery, and oil, which
may generally all be obtained by capital. The parts performed by nature
and man vary according to the fabric produced. In the case of pasturage,
nature contributes the greatest share; in cultivation the capital skill
and industry of man is conspicuous. The neglected farm, incapable of
producing turnip with a visible bulb, yields a full crop with a
judicious application of labour and manure. The united exertions of
nature and man ensure success. She accomplishes much when unaided by
man, but he cannot obtain any thing without the assistance of nature.
When she withholds heat or moisture, the manufacture is suspended, and
she possesses the power of arresting or altogether destroying the
machinery. Farmers combine nature’s agency under the term climate, and
they are familiar with the general effects of heat, frost, drought, and
moisture. If given quantities of manure and labour were bestowed on
equal portions of soil, similar in quality, situated in Scotland, on a
level with the ocean, and the top of a mountain, the difference of
produce would be the effect of climate.
Man has been doomed to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.
Experience confirms that the industry of an individual, closely applied
to the cultivation of the soil in the temperate climes of the world, is
more than adequate to supply sustenance to himself. It is a beautiful
feature in farming, that agricultural improvements furnish additional
food, increase almost every comfort, and ameliorate climate. The
goodness of God to man is thus manifested, in providing him with the
means of subsistence, and a reward according to his industry.
A person who intends emigrating ought to consider well what his
prospects are likely to be in the country of his birth, and in the
district to which he is to move, and be guided by a balance of their
advantages and disadvantages. You have chosen the profession of farmer,
and I shall, in connexion with America, direct your attention to a few
particulars affecting East Lothian agriculture, the district in which
you reside, and its state is perhaps not widely different from the
agriculture of other parts of Britain.
The results of nature, capital, and labour, forming farm produce, it
becomes desirable to ascertain the proportions which they contribute. It
is impossible, perhaps, to fix on them with accuracy in any particular
case, and their combinations are variable. Endeavour, however, to obtain
a clear comprehension of the separate parts they perform in the
manufacture of human sustenance. They deeply affect the question of
emigration from Britain, the choice of locality elsewhere, and the
employment of capital and cultivation generally. Farm economy is
altogether depending on them, and the success or failure of operations
intimately connected with their combinations.
The soil of East Lothian is owned in large masses by landholders, who
seldom contribute much towards farming except building accommodation.
The properties being secured to them and their heirs by laws of entail,
their own imprudence cannot deprive them of the land, and not possessing
the power of disposing of it, they have little inducement to improve it.
Being, many of them, unacquainted with agriculture, they are incapable
of managing their properties, which are, consequently, placed under the
charge of agents, who are generally lawyers, residing in towns, without
knowledge of farming. Landholders too often only interest themselves in
land as shelter for game, and agents as the source of rent; the
interests of both parties being temporary, they pursue their hobby,
regardless of ultimate consequences, and occasionally without sympathy
for their fellow-creatures residing on the soil. There is sometimes a
person under the agent, called Factor, who, from being the medium of
communicating with the tenantry, possesses much influence, which is
generally used, for good or evil, to please his employer.
Land is generally occupied on a lease, which endures nineteen years; and
it is by the skill and capital of tenant-farmers that the soil is
cultivated, and that almost all agricultural improvements have been
introduced. The farmers employ yearly servants called hinds, a highly
deserving class of operatives.
As the population and wealth of Britain increase, there is employment
for a proportionate number of individuals in most professions—such, for
example, as bakers and shoemakers. It is otherwise with farmers, because
the soil has long been entirely occupied, and it does not expand with an
increase of population. Indeed an opposite rule seems to apply to this
profession, skill and capital enabling an individual to manage a greater
extent of land. These circumstances, joined to the natural desire
mankind have to till the soil, have created much competition for renting
land.
The corn-laws have been denominated a bread-tax, but they ought to be
named rent laws, as their practical effect has been to raise the rent of
land without benefiting any one engaged in agriculture, except a few
farmers during an existing lease. They are a tax on the community for
the benefit of landholders, so admirably devised, that it is levied
without expense, farmers acting as gratis collectors, and paying the
proceeds in the name of rent. Corn-laws have long given a fictitious
value to farm produce, and created delusive hopes in farmers which led
to their own ruin. At present they are injurious to the agricultural
labourer and farmer, because while they continue and are subject to
change, rational data for renting land and investing capital in its
cultivation cannot exist, and their abrogation will sooner or later be
effected by public opinion.
The present defective leases of farms continuing fixed for nineteen
years, are injurious, by giving rise to an improving mode of agriculture
at the commencement, a stationary mode in the middle, and a
deteriorating system at the termination of the lease. Thus, the
fertility of a farm fluctuates, instead of progressing unchecked till
the end of time. A nineteen years’ lease is often hurtful to a farmer,
by binding him to a bad bargain for such a length of time, and involving
his heirs in the difficulty which, in case of a young family, is a more
serious step than binding himself. Leases have also tended to lessen the
landlord’s interest in his property, and estrange him from the tenantry.
So much is this the case, that at the present time many landlords are
altogether unacquainted with their tenantry, and a good feeling does not
always exist between them. Were land occupied on proper terms, with a
proper lease, the case would be different. The landlord would then have
a direct interest in the cultivation of his property, in the management
of his tenant, and in the welfare of every being residing on the soil. A
worthless character, or bad farmer, would be got rid of, and the farm of
a tyrannical or illiberal landlord soon abandoned. In short it would be
in the option of the parties to separate at short periods, which would
prevent jarring, and a community of interests would ensure the
progressive productiveness of the farm. The idea of a copartnership of
every individual engaged in cultivating the soil, would, in some
measure, be realized, and good feeling maintained amongst them. In some
parts of England where annual leases prevail, I have witnessed as good
farming as I ever saw in Scotland, and perfect harmony existed between
landlords and tenants, and the latter seemed to enjoy more of the
comforts and luxuries of life than Scottish farmers. However
advantageous leases may have proved in former times, when the tenantry
were bowed down by oppression and poverty, their effects, of late years,
when competition for renting land has been so great, and the value of
farm produce retrograding, have been injurious to the tenantry and the
advancement of agriculture. The terms of lease seem only calculated for
progressive prices of farm produce, and have proved ruinous during
declining ones. It would be easy to remedy the defects of the present
lease, but, under existing circumstances, visionary to expect their
removal.
On the termination of a lease the farm is generally advertised to be let
by receiving written offers on a mentioned day. The landlord and his
agent knowing little about its value, a tenant is accepted after every
attempt has been made to obtain rent above the written offers, by
operating on the feelings and local attachments of the former tenant,
which seldom fail to ripen during a lease. From all parts of the country
candidates of different descriptions appear. Men of sanguine
temperament, without calculation, unacquainted with the peculiarities of
the district, and looking forward to the prices of produce returning to
what they were upwards of twenty years ago. Adventurers, trusting to get
a reduction of rent after obtaining possession, and reckless of the
consequence of the step they have taken, having perhaps little capital
to lose, and content to live, year after year, dependents on the
property, and with arrears of rent accumulating. People merely wishing a
place of residence, and not calculating on profit from the farm, having
the means of living from other sources.
Such is the state of East Lothian farmers, that during the last twenty
years perhaps three-fourths of them have not fulfilled their original
contracts, and the funds that have been lost in cultivating the soil is
incalculable. I have known a tenant rent a farm with a capital of seven
thousand pounds sterling, consisting of about 400 acres, and remove from
it before the expiry of his lease, with only five hundred pounds in his
pocket, and in arrears of rent to his landlord the sum of three thousand
pounds. Mr ——, of our acquaintance, on a farm under 100 acres, incurred
twelve hundred pounds of arrears, and got off by paying only two hundred
of them. With such competitors, a young man who must live by his
profession, can hardly wish to be successful. The obtaining of a lease
at the present time may often be considered little better than the first
chance of being ruined, and many tenants, after leading anxious lives,
and exposed to the insults of rent exactors, may think themselves
fortunate if they escape with a remnant of their fortunes.
The feeling that landholders, agents, and factors sometimes evince
towards the tenantry is so hostile, that a small portion of the farmers
originally connected with East Lothian obtain leases of late years, the
new tenants generally coming from other countries. So much is this the
case, that I have sometimes regarded such tenants as a proscribed race,
and thought that the sooner most of them put their house in order for
removal the better for themselves. It is of no consequence how
respectable the old tenant may be in private life, or high in his
profession. A promise of rent, although not likely to be fulfilled, is a
never-failing recommendation to a stranger, when joined to subserviency,
without which it is very difficult to obtain a farm on any terms. If a
tenant has opinions, they must agree with those of agents or factors on
the estate, or warfare ensues; and if he is an individual of talent or
independent feeling, he is hunted with more zeal as a dangerous person,
and every species of annoyance and persecution is hurled against him. A
tenant of great enterprise, who had obtained a conventional reduction of
rent some years ago, in consequence of a _fall_ in prices, was lately
called before an agent and questioned about his management. The tenant
maintained his innovation on the common system to be an improvement, but
was told by the agent that if it was found he had injured the land,
damages must be paid, and if, as was alleged, a discovery had been made,
it was fair the landholder should participate in the discovery, and no
reduction of rent would be made in future, although prices had _fallen_
thirty per cent since the conventional reduction was granted. About
fifteen years ago, eleven tenants resided on a certain estate, and since
then the effects of ten of them have been sequestrated and sold at the
instance of the landholder, and in all probability the remaining tenant
will remove elsewhere in a few months. On a division of another estate,
the tenants have all been twice changed in twelve years, and one of the
farms in the same time has had four tenants, three of whom became
bankrupts. With such examples before their eyes, tenants eagerly seek
after farms at rents which cannot be realized from its disposable
produce. Their case soon becomes hopeless, but, being bound for nineteen
years, they are generally held until their funds are exhausted, when
they are sacrificed, according to the partial laws of the country, to
make room for a new victim. The original tenants of East Lothian have
been accounted fine gentlemen—extravagant fellows, devouring so much of
the produce of the soil that they scarcely leave any of it for the
landholder—an allegation which is unfounded, and which has hitherto
served as a pretext for harshness. It has been suggested that the
managers of great estates are fond of power and adulation, and cannot
brook the idea of farmers approaching themselves in the refinements of
life; hence the harsh treatment of the tenantry and the success of
subserviency.
There is a prevalent idea that small farms occupied by hard working men
afford more rent than possessions of larger size, and on some estates
small farms are forming. The effects of a division of labour, skill, and
capital must be nearly the same in farming as in most other
manufactories, and a very short trial of tenants without capital,
however they may live, will prove this position by the altered fertility
of the soil, which is illustrated by the state of Irish agriculture. In
Ireland farm produce is the result of nature and imperfect labour; but
in East Lothian the results of capital, skill, and improved labour enter
into the combination; and in the latter the produce of land is much
greater than in the former. But the landholders of Ireland are perhaps
more wealthy than those of East Lothian, compared with the people of the
respective countries. A crowded and agricultural population will pay
rent in proportion to its degradation, or, at least, afford in such a
ratio influence and rank to landholders. This rule is not, however,
applicable to Britain, where commerce and manufactures flourish, whose
profits of stock and wages of labour ultimately affect those of
agriculture, and the selfish attempts at degrading the farmers of East
Lothian will recoil on their authors. For a time tenants without capital
can pay high rents, by extracting from the soil the means of fertility
imparted to it by others; but the deteriorated condition of the farm is
ultimately a loss to the landholder and the community.
The capital which is required to put the operations of an East Lothian
farm in full motion, the tenant maintaining himself and reaping a crop
without the aid of credit, may be stated at seven pounds sterling, or
nearly thirty-five dollars per imperial acre. The rent which is
stipulated to be paid, and the capital expended in fertilizing the soil,
renders the step which he takes a serious speculation. If a bad crop or
two occurs at the commencement of the lease, the tenant will be unable
to pay the rent, and he is then deprived of the lease, or allowed to
continue a dependent on the estate. Being bound for nineteen years, he
has not the option of removing from the farm, and is very seldom
permitted to do so while a tangible farthing of his funds remain. At all
times he leads an anxious life without bodily toil, and is seldom
remunerated for his exertions and risk of capital. Industry and
enterprise may enable him to struggle to the end of his lease. Should he
die and leave a wife and young family, the unexpired years of the lease
would in all probability ruin them, his funds being liable for the rent,
and they would be incapable of managing the farm without incurring great
loss. Two thousand pounds may be stated as an ordinary capital to
commence farming with; and it is hopeless for a person without
considerable funds to think of farming at all.
The hinds, or farm-servants of East Lothian, are, perhaps, the steadiest
and most praiseworthy race of men in the world, and indifferently
rewarded for the important part which they act in farm economy, living
on poor fare, and in bad cottages. Up to the present time, the best
feeling has existed between them and the tenantry; and there are
thousands of instances of men having died of old age in the service of
their first employers, without an abatement of income having been made
during sickness or infirmity. But a change is taking place in their
condition, by the pressure on the tenantry weakening attachments, and
forbidding an indulgence of generosity towards their faithful and
proficient operatives. Mutual confidence and assistance, in the
different classes engaged in farming, forms the strength of the East
Lothian system of agriculture, and the true source of happiness of all
interested in it. Kindness and attention, on the part of landholders
towards the tenantry, commonly radiates to farm-servants, from them to
the animals under their charge, and the happiness of all is thereby
promoted. On the other hand, harshness and neglect shown by landholders
to the tenantry, descends to servants and animals, and general
uneasiness is the result. Some of the recently introduced tenantry bring
all their operatives from other districts, and have commenced the
_Bothie_ system, which is highly demoralizing in its effects on the men
who are subjected to it, although it is somewhat cheaper than the
customary mode of treating the ploughmen. The prospect of this class
bettering their condition is hopeless, and there is reason to apprehend
their comforts will be curtailed.
The rural population of East Lothian appears to be undergoing an unhappy
change. The management of landed property is almost entirely intrusted
to agents, who, like the middlemen of Ireland, have no permanent
interest in the soil, nor sympathy with its cultivators; and, like that
country, East Lothian now suffers from the effects of absenteeism, so
far as the interests and feelings of the rural inhabitants are
concerned. The landholders and tenantry are unknown to each other, and
dislike may sometimes be traced in both parties. The tie of farmer and
ploughman is waxing weak, and instead of the quietness of conduct which
now pervades all classes, a very few years may develope the troubles of
Ireland, and the south of England.
It has already been stated, that nature contributes much towards the
manufacture of farm produce; but the fruits of her exertion do not
benefit the tenant nor operative. The landholders receive as rent all
that results from nature, and also a considerable portion flowing from
the tenant’s capital and the operative’s labour. The tax which the
corn-laws impose on the unagricultural portion of the population, for
the benefit of landholders, is collected free of expense by the
tenantry. The ragged and half-starved peasant of Ireland labours
amongst, and begs from, the people of Britain, and, on reaching home,
gives his earnings to the owner of the soil, that he may be permitted to
exist only on the potato he himself cultivates. The East Lothian tenant
of the present day is often not more happily situated, gradually paying
the landholder the earnings of early life, or inherited wealth, for the
privilege of occupying the soil, and returning its produce. It is
fortunate landholders do not possess the power of preventing the
population removing to other countries, and there growing produce for
themselves.
There seems but little in the present constitution and state of
agricultural relations to brighten futurity. An abrogation of the
corn-laws would ensure an extended application of capital to the soil,
and create employment for operatives. Annulling the law of entail would
produce landholders interested in agriculture and the people who follow
it. But however beneficial might be the effects of such measures, the
evil of a limited surface with a numerous population would remain. The
landholder would perhaps be reduced to the necessity of superintending
the cultivation of a part of his own soil, and generally interest
himself in his estate. The situation of tenants and operatives would
only be improved for a short while, as they would soon compete with each
other as before. Neither of them are at present adequately remunerated
for their exertions. To expect much improvement in their condition while
population is so numerous, seems hopeless; and individuals will require
to exert themselves to maintain their present position.
I have treated generally of East Lothian agriculture, and the classes
immediately connected with it, without noticing examples of wisdom and
generosity on the part of landholders, or of folly and worthlessness
amongst tenants and operatives. My object has been to bring the unsound
parts of the system under notice, in order that an estimate of future
prospects might be formed. But all classes may be regarded as the
victims of circumstances which have not perhaps been of their own
creating, and they are more deserving of sympathy than censure. While
what appeared to me to be the true state of things has been freely
described, I disclaim feelings of bitterness or reproach towards man or
things.
CHAPTER II.
_Persons engaged in American Agriculture—American and
British Agriculture—Application of Capital and Labour to
Cultivation—Rent—Price of Land—Proportions of Nature—Capital and
Labour in the Production of Farm Produce, and their distribution in
Britain and America—Capital required to stock a Farm in both
Countries—Unhealthiness of America—Climate—State of
Society—Situation of young Men without Capital—Choosing America or
Britain._
In North America, extensive landholders are not common in any of the
districts which I visited; and where they do exist, a great part of
their possessions are unproductive. The soil is chiefly cultivated by
its owners, who, in sundry respects, resemble the tenants of Scotland;
and they often perform a great portion of the manual labour of the farm.
In many parts of the country, which has been long settled, the farmers
are opulent, participating in all the conveniences of life; and, without
passing their time in absolute idleness, hire a good deal of labour. In
the more recently settled parts, farmers have few of the elegancies and
conveniences of life, with an ample share of its necessaries. They do
not labour hard after the first three or four years of settlement, and
seem to live without much care. Land does not invest its owner with any
privilege or status in society.
Renters of land, or tenants, are common in many parts, and in all
respects rank as landholders. The terms of rent are variable. Near
towns, and in thickly-peopled districts, a small rent is paid in money,
and a lease of several years taken. In remote situations, land is
commonly let on shares from year to year. If the owner of the soil
furnishes seed and labouring animals, he gets two-thirds of the produce,
when on the field, and removed from the earth. If the tenant supplies
animals and seed, the landowner gets one-third. But terms may vary
according to situation, soil, and crop.
Farm-hired men, or by whatever other name they may be distinguished, are
to be had in all old settled districts, and also in many of the new
ones. In most cases their reward is ample, and their treatment good,
living on the same kind of fare and often associating with their
employers. A great deal of farm labour is performed by piece-work.
The agriculture of a country is affected by local circumstances, and
farming in Britain and in the remote parts of America may be considered
the extremes of the art. In the one country the farmer aims to assist,
and in the other to rob nature. When the results of capital and labour
are low, compared with the hire of them, they are sparingly applied to
the cultivation of the soil, in which case nature is oppressed and
neglected, if I may be allowed to use such terms; and when they are
high, compared with their hire, she is aided and caressed. Both systems
are proper in the respective countries; and, by assuming a fixed result
for nature, they admit of arithmetical demonstration. Along the eastern
shores of America, manures and a considerable portion of hired labour
are applied to the cultivation of the soil; but in remote districts
manures are not used, and the smallest indispensable quantity of labour
bestowed. In the eastern parts, the results of capital and labour enter
into the productions of the soil; in remote districts the aid of capital
can scarcely be said to have been called into action, and in both
situations nature is the chief agent.
The circumstances affecting the application of capital and labour to the
cultivation of the soil in Britain and America are as opposite as their
systems of farming. In Britain, with her limited surface and dense
population, nature’s contribution towards the production of farm produce
is given to the landholder as rent, and the rural inhabitants living
near the starvation point, the price of provisions regulates in a great
measure the hire of labour. Accordingly, the wages of agricultural
labour in the different parts of the country are proportionate to the
value of their produce; being lowest in the remote and inclement
situations, and highest in the most favoured districts. In America, the
extent of soil and thin population has not distorted effects, and
nature’s portion of farm produce is not absorbed by rent. The results of
capital and labour being represented in quantities of produce, and their
hire paid in money, it follows, that the cash-value of the former must
generally exceed the latter, and that an additional application of
capital and labour to cultivation is a consequence of produce being high
priced compared with their hire. Accordingly, in all parts of the
country where produce is high, labour is low, and where produce is low,
labour is high.
In Britain, the hire of agricultural labour has been affected, and in
all probability will continue to be regulated, by the wages of the
unagricultural part of the population. Without manufactures and
commerce, the condition of her rural inhabitants would have approached
the present state of the Irish people. In America, the returns of the
agriculturist appear to regulate the wages of other classes. When they
are high, other classes are attracted to farming; when low, farmers
change their profession;—Americans generally being able to exercise two
or three professions.
The origin and progress of rent seem to admit of easy solution. In the
western prairies of America, where cheap and good cleared land is almost
as abundant as air, rent is unknown, except in the neighbourhood of
towns. In the eastern districts, where good cleared land is of limited
extent, compared with the inhabitants, rent is paid. Thus, population is
the origin of rent, which is the value of produce above what it hath
cost in raising and carrying to market. At first, it consists of a small
portion of the produce furnished by nature; with an increase of
population the whole is absorbed, and ultimately also, parts of the
results of capital and labour. Rent is also affected by the condition as
well as by the number of the people; and, under a parity of
circumstances, will be found to augment in the ratio of the number and
misery of the agricultural inhabitants.
Until land yields rent, it is not worth purchase-money, and in
proportion to a rise of rent its price will increase. Lands, therefore,
sell at a considerable sum on the eastern side of America, and diminish
in price to the westward, unless enhanced by localities of situation. As
population increases in the west, and labour falls, land will rise in
value, cheap land and cheap labour being incompatible with each other.
But the investment of capital in the purchase and cultivation of land
depends also on the profits of stock, or rate of interest in the
country, the tangibility of the investment, and many other things.
From the high price of produce, and comparatively cheap labour and
manure in the eastern parts, capital, judiciously employed in
cultivation, yields an ample return. But the low produce and high labour
in the west renders it unprofitable to employ much capital in
cultivation at present in that situation. From the great advantages
which the western districts possess over the eastern ones in cheapness
and fertility of soil, and consequent reward of labour, population will
flow into them, and render a rise in the value of land more probable
there than in the eastern parts.
Having frequently alluded to the results of nature, capital, and labour,
in the production of farm produce and their distribution, I shall
endeavour to illustrate the subject hypothetically, for the purpose of
assisting in forming an opinion of their general bearings. The results
of capital and labour employed in cultivation cannot always be
separated, and perhaps they ought to be classed together. The assumed
data does not include capital invested in the purchase of land, and I do
not wish the accuracy of the statement to be relied on, although I think
it approaches to correctness.
In East Lothian produce, let nature be represented by 3
Capital, 1
Labour, 3
—
Total, 7
Nature’s share being given as rent, and also part of the results of
capital and labour, the landholder perhaps gets a portion, expressed by
3½, leaving 3½ for the tenant, labourers, and all other expenses of
cultivation. But the expenses of cultivation and rent must be paid under
all circumstances, and frequently nothing remains for the tenant. This
is particularly obvious in unproductive seasons when the diminished crop
may be represented by 4, leaving the tenant, after discharging taxes and
some other things, without a farthing to pay rent. I myself have been so
situated, and human means cannot prevent such visitations. Hence the
speculative nature of farming, and the results which have flowed from
it.
In American produce, let nature be represented by 3
Capital, 0¼
Labour, 1¼
——
Total, 4½
In the eastern parts where rent is paid, the landholder’s portion may be
1, leaving 3½ for the tenant and expenses of cultivation. In remote
districts where capital is scarcely employed, the whole produce falls to
be divided between the landholder and labourers, and the landholder
enjoys it without division, when the labour is performed by his own
hands. Although the divisible portion appears the same in both
countries, the labour and capital employed in cultivation is perhaps
five times greater in Britain than in western America. On a given
surface the produce is greater in Britain, but in America the produce is
greater in proportion to the labour employed in cultivation.
In East Lothian the farmer gives the fruits of nature and part of the
results of capital and labour to the landholder as rent. In western
America the farmer shares nature’s bounty with the labourer, or enjoys
it himself by labouring with his own hands. In East Lothian the farmer
of the present time is in some degree the servant of the landholder. In
western America the farmer has nature for his servant, or at least
enjoys her labours. With such an assistant what industrious man can be
poor?
In the event of death or old age, nature still continues her services to
the American farmer, by furnishing grass and other commodities. A widow
or young family, almost under any circumstances, could milk cows and
plant potatoes. Bountiful nature would provide grass for the animals and
mature the potatoes, on the produce of which the family might live. In
East Lothian a widow or young family, after being ruined, would be
turned adrift on the world.
In the eastern parts of America land may be purchased and stocked for
nearly the sum an East Lothian farmer expends in stocking and improving
a farm, namely L.7 per acre. But if the land has great local advantages,
the price will be considerably higher. In the western parts of the
United States, prairie land of the best quality, without the least
obstacle to cultivation, and to any extent, may be had. For the sum of
three hundred pounds sterling a farm of 200 acres could be bought and
stocked in the prairies of western America. In East Lothian farming is a
hazardous calling; in America there is no risk attending it. In East
Lothian L.2000 is required to stock a farm; in the Western States L.300
will purchase and stock one nearly of equal size. In East Lothian a
farmer has mental annoyance with bodily ease; in America he has mental
ease with personal labour. In East Lothian a young farmer commences his
career in affluence, and at middle age finds himself in poverty; in
America he begins with toil, and is in easy circumstances by middle age.
But however favourable American farming may appear when simply viewing
the quantity of produce, the country has many disadvantages deserving of
consideration, and one of the most important is its unhealthiness. The
whole of North America is liable to ague and fevers of various kinds,
and the chief difference of situation in these respects seems to be
owing to cultivation. The more cultivation is extended, the healthier
the climate becomes, but occasionally ague and fever prevails in all
situations. I found fever and ague at Hyde Park, on the banks of the
Hudson, at Niagara, Whitby, and Chatham, in Upper Canada. The
inhabitants on the prairies of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and
Missouri, were suffering much from fever when I was amongst them. Almost
every person you meet with in America tells you of the healthiness of
his situation, and the unhealthiness of other parts of the country. The
cause of fever and ague in America does not appear connected with
marshes or stagnant waters, as the inhabitants residing on the dry open
prairie of 100 miles in extent are not exempt from its attacks, but is
thought to arise from the miasms of decaying vegetation; and the rich
bottoms, covered with rank vegetation, on the banks of rivers are the
most unhealthy situations. While journeying over the prairies of
Illinois after nightfall in autumn, when vegetation was decaying, the
smell of fermenting grasses was unpleasantly strong, and reminded me of
the odour of a sweating hay-stack in Scotland. In almost every part of
the world where the earth’s surface is uncultivated and well clothed
with vegetation, fever and ague prevails, and is found to abate as
cultivation is introduced. Thus bountiful nature at once rewards the
enterprising farmer with her fruits and a more salubrious atmosphere.
What incentives to industry!
The climate of North America is remarkable for variations of
temperature, and most situations seem alike in this respect. But the
duration of winter increases, and length of summer decreases, with the
latitude of the situation. The region of North America is not so
congenial to human life as Britain, but far more so than the East and
West Indies and many other parts of the world. In such a vast continent
cultivation is alone wanting to render it healthy.
The state of society in America is very different from what it is in
Britain, there being less refinement and fewer of the elegancies of life
enjoyed. I am satisfied, however, from experience, that much of what is
known by, and appreciated as, the comforts of life, arises from fashion
and force of habit, and that a few weeks’ residence will reconcile a
reasonable person to the change. Throughout the greater part of the
country, fashion has not established her empire, and there is little
vieing amongst the inhabitants. The handsome bound volumes which adorn
the drawingrooms of Britain, are not more instructive or amusing in
consequence of their showy exterior; and the meagre furnishings of
American log-houses, in the remote districts, meet the wishes of the
inhabitants, and are found as useful as the most gaudy. Plain furniture
is not despised where fine is never met with. In taverns, luxuries and
refinements are common, and wealth may obtain them almost any where. Of
the state of domestic society I am not qualified to speak from personal
observation, farther than that the manners and customs of the people
differ from those of Britain. In the eastern parts the distinctions of
classes in society and elegancies of life approximate those of Britain,
and both gradually diminish on proceeding to the westward. But in any
part of America, where an emigrant may settle himself, he must lay his
account with a change in the social intercourse of life. Some people
are, however, incapable of altering their manners and customs, and such
characters may live without society.
In the eastern parts of America the luxuries and conveniences of life
are cheaper, and the necessaries dearer, than in remote districts. The
east should therefore be the abode of the wealthy, refined, and
luxurious; the west, of the persons who value the necessaries of life,
and such as are not of fastidious habits. But in no part of the country
will the fastidious find themselves happy.
The want of good assistants, servants, or helps, is ranked amongst
American privations. In the east assistance can at all times be had,
which is not the case in the west; but in most situations high wages and
good treatment will obtain assistance. Female servants are very scarce,
and said not to be good. To the wealthy and refined, who have resided in
Britain, this state of things at first appears insupportable. They soon,
however, learn to assist themselves in many things, and find their
happiness increased by doing so.
The difficulty of obtaining servants arises from the ease with which
individuals obtain a livelihood, every industrious and sober character
having the means of purchasing a good estate in the west with the
accumulated savings of three years’ service. However much certain
classes may feel and regret the want of servants, the extraordinary
reward which they receive ought in fairness to be accounted the
country’s greatest blessing. In no other part of the world is industry,
sobriety, and worth, so richly rewarded.
The influence which wealth has attained in Britain merits the
consideration of all young men without capital. Personal exertion is
often considered degrading, and visited with the contumely of former
associates. To lose rank in society must be particularly galling to
young men of spirit, and few in the middle walks of life can keep their
place without capital. This is one of the many inconveniences attending
a refined state of society, and is more likely to increase than diminish
in Britain. In the remote parts of America wealth is not idolized. The
industrious youth may there follow any occupation without being looked
down upon or sustain loss of rank, and may rationally anticipate raising
himself. The plain style of buildings and household furnishings of such
places are favourable to young people, and in almost every particular
their situation may be said to be the reverse of what it is in Britain.
A young man without capital and of good character, is almost sure to
gain but cannot lose rank by emigrating to America, and will rarely
maintain his rank by remaining in Britain.
In judging then of the step of becoming an American agriculturist, all
may lay their account to undergo considerable privations at first
settlement, and lead a different life from the farmers of East Lothian.
The bountiful reward which industry receives soon enables good men to
purchase land; and it is therefore often the unsteady and idle which
hire themselves to farmers. On this account, it will be necessary to
work personally, by way of example and active superintendence. Right
thinking people consider it no disgrace to labour in any part of the
world, and it is thought quite disreputable to be idle in America. East
Lothian farmers often toil mentally without remuneration; and the
assurance that, while in America, all the fruits of a person’s own
labour, assisted by generous nature, accrues to himself, will nerve his
arm and sweeten his toil. The division of labour so beautifully effected
in some of the operations of East Lothian agriculture, and which I may
be permitted to call professional luxuries, cannot be practised at
present in America. The wooden dwelling-house and barns will at first
perhaps appear revolting, and may induce some people to think, that,
with the same privations and sacrifices, they would have been enabled to
have lived in East Lothian. Such is not, however, the case; because the
pressure on farmers arises from a competition of numbers, which would be
increased by lowering the standard of living; and the only result of
such policy would be to raise the rent of land, and degrade all engaged
in farming. Let no one, however, from my representations of American
farming, entertain too sanguine hopes of success. Farming, in most parts
of the world, ranks low in the scale of professional remuneration; and
without virtue, persevering industry, and sobriety of character, people
will not likely either become wealthy or happy. In nine cases out of
ten, a man’s success in life depends on his own exertions. America
presents a fertile and extensive field, and whoever does not reap an
abundant harvest, will, in all probability, find the cause of failure in
his own character. I cannot hold out an immediate or ultimate prospect
of great wealth, as the low price of produce and high labour renders
this improbable. Every person may, however, obtain all the necessaries
and most of the true comforts of life in the fullest abundance,
unharassed by the cares of the present, or apprehensions of the future.
The pleasures of society are not likely to be so much enjoyed in America
as in Britain; but, on the other hand, its mortifications are escaped.
In every part of the world, man ought to look to his family and himself,
and not to society, for true happiness. If abundance of the necessaries
of life do not ensure society in America, the want of abundance is
almost sure to lose society in Britain.
CHAPTER III.
_Lower Canada—Inhabitants—Climate—Soil—Mode of Selling
Land—Productions and Prices—Farming near Montreal—Climate affecting
Agriculture and Farmers._
Canada originally consisted of one country, and was divided into two
provinces, Upper and Lower Canada, in 1791. It was discovered by Jacques
Cartier, a Frenchman, in 1535, and continued under dominion of the
French until 1759, with exception of a year or two, when it was ceded to
the English.
The descendants of the French, after the conquest by the English, were
allowed to retain their laws and religion, which so attached them to the
British government, that their fidelity remained unshaken during the war
with the colonies to the south, which now form part of the United
States. In the late war between Great Britain and the United States the
population again continued faithful; and their antipathy to the
inhabitants of the States seems to be unconquerable.
About two-thirds of the inhabitants of Lower Canada are descendants of
the French, who speak the French language, and retain most of their old
manners and customs. The rest of the inhabitants consist of all nations,
and are chiefly descended from British subjects. The French Canadians
profess the Catholic religion; and lands held by Catholics pay one
twenty-sixth of the grain produce to the clergy. The exaction, however,
seldom extends beyond the wheat crop; and the people of all religions
represent the Catholic clergy of Lower Canada as the best disposed and
most inoffensive class of men in the province.
The French Canadians are chiefly engaged in agriculture, and are a most
unenterprising race of individuals, and lead the same kind of life which
their forefathers did upwards of two hundred years ago. They appear to
be poor, indolent, and a mirthful loving people. The commerce of the
province is carried on chiefly by British subjects. In politics, there
is a French and British party. At present the French interest is the
most numerous; it will, however, ultimately dwindle away.
The province of Lower Canada lies between forty-five and fifty-two
degrees of north latitude, and sixty-three and eighty-one of west
longitude, from Greenwich. The climate of America is very different from
places of the same latitude in Europe, the degrees of heat and cold
being much greater. Although lying considerably farther south than
England, Fahrenheit’s thermometer ranges between ninety and one hundred
degrees in summer. In winter, the thermometer occasionally indicates
thirty degrees below zero, and for six months the surface of the earth
is covered with snow. The St Lawrence, which divides the province, runs
in a north-easterly direction, and the climate becomes mild as the river
is ascended. In the western part of the province, spring commences a
month earlier than it does at Quebec, the capital of the district, and
the climate is in all respects superior for agriculture.
The climate of Lower Canada is perhaps as healthy as any in America,
which may be owing to the length of time the banks of the St Lawrence,
where the population chiefly reside, have been cultivated. In newly
settled districts, fever and ague, the scourge of America, is frequently
known.
The soil, which has been surveyed, is estimated by Bouchette at about
16,000,000 acres, and is said to be inferior sand in the eastern parts,
and to improve to the westward. This gradation of soil seems to be
pretty general in most parts of North America; but soils of the most
opposite character are to be found in all situations, and America is as
variable in texture and quality of surface as Britain.
The greater part of the cleared land is occupied by the descendants of
the French in narrow stripes, seldom exceeding 100 acres, and often
extending miles in length. The tenures are of French origin, and it is
difficult to get a good title to land, without it has been disposed of
at a sheriff’s sale. A considerable part of the land is held by English
tenure, and to such there is no difficulty in obtaining good
title-deeds.
A considerable extent of crown lands is still undisposed of, and they
are sold by public sale on the first day of every month, in every
township where an agent resides. The upset price of the lands varies
from 2s. 6d. to 10s. Halifax currency, by which all land in the Canadas
are sold. The following are the conditions of sale for 1834:—
“1st, The lands will be put up for sale in lots or parcels of from 100
(or a half surveyed lot) to 1200 acres (or six surveyed lots), as may
suit the convenience of parties disposed to bid for the same.
“2d, The lots will be offered at the upset price, as quoted above.
“3d, The lots are to be taken at the contents marked in the public
documents, without guarantee as to the actual quantity contained in
them.
“4th, The biddings to be made in currency upon the upset price per acre.
“5th, The lots will be sold to the highest bidder.
“6th, The purchase-money to be paid by four annual instalments, without
interest. The first instalment or deposit-money of twenty-five per cent
at the time of sale, and the second, third, and fourth instalments at
intervals of a year.
“7th, The instalments to be paid into the office of crown lands at
Quebec, or the treasurer or receiver of rents on his half-yearly tour
for the collection of rents.
“8th, If the instalments are not regularly paid, the deposit-money will
be forfeited, and the land again referred to sale.”
The chief productions of Lower Canada are wheat, barley, and oats, of
inferior quality, which may be partly owing to the climate and the
management which the soil is under. For nearly half a century, manure
has not been applied to the greater part of the cultivated land, which,
after being what is considered exhausted, is allowed to produce a
natural sward of grass, on which animals browse during one summer, and
it is again ploughed in autumn. Notwithstanding the natural goodness of
much of the soil, the crops are of the worst description; and when all
things are taken into consideration, it is surprising to find them so
good.
Much of the land in the neighbourhood of Montreal, unconnected with the
island of that name, is of excellent quality, and, if properly drained
and manured, might produce almost any description of crop.
The island of Montreal contains some good soil, of light texture, well
adapted for market gardening, a department of husbandry at present
highly remunerating. The French Canadians being unwilling to dispose of
their lands in the neighbourhood of the town of Montreal, and not likely
soon to change their present system of agriculture, the growing of
vegetables will, in all probability, long continue profitable, even
should high prices induce settlers up the St Lawrence to transmit
produce when the communication with Montreal becomes improved, as it
unquestionably will in progress of time.
Agriculture produce of all kinds fetches a high price in Lower Canada,
which does not seem to afford sufficient food for the inhabitants, and
more especially butcher meat. The following inland imports to Montreal
are taken from the Commercial List.
_Up to the 6th July_, 1832 . 1833.
————— —————
Pork from Upper Canada, 3978 1149
Lower Canada, 526 1860
United States, 6108 17805
————— —————
Total Barrels, 10612 20814
————— —————
Exports by sea from Canada, 1832. 1833.
————— —————
Pork to the West Indies, 2285 1694
to other places, 1177 2586
————— —————
Total barrels, 3462 4280
These lists, containing only the imports to Montreal and the exports of
the whole province, show a considerable balance against the country,
which would be greatly increased if the imports of the whole province
were included. It is probable other articles would also show an
unfavourable balance.
The difficulty of raising produce is unquestionably the cause of its
high price, which is not likely to be lowered by other means than
importing supplies. The French Canadians, having few wants and strong
local attachments, labour cheaply rather than remove to a distance,
which, joined to the influx of destitute emigrants from Britain and
Ireland, renders wages lower perhaps than in any other part of the
American continent. High prices and cheap labour are favourable to
investing capital in cultivation; and a skilful and prudent farmer
cannot fail of being successful in the immediate neighbourhood of
Montreal. Here he will feel the change from Britain less than in any
other part of America, with exception of climate, and even the length
and severity of winter are said to be agreeable. A considerable extent
of capital is required to purchase land in a good situation, which costs
from L.10 to L.20 per acre. Land is also occasionally to be had on
lease; and when a sufficient number of years, and proper terms are
obtained, an outlay of capital in improving the soil would be
profitable.
If soil is the workshop of the farmer, and animals and plants his
machinery, the climate of Lower Canada is an impediment, seriously
affecting plants, animals, and man, which cannot be removed. With six
months of winter, the machinery of the farm is suspended half the year.
Few plants can be properly matured, and crops, in all seasons, are
liable to be injured by frost. Animals require a large supply of dry
fodder, as succulent food cannot be provided, and the intense cold
reduces them in condition. Man is so long prevented by winter from
labouring the soil, and so hurried by the shortness of spring and
autumn, that he has not time to prepare it suitably for the reception of
crops. To these causes may be ascribed the leanness of animals, the high
price of produce, the poverty of the people, and the cheapness of
labour.
The climate is too cold for the cultivation of Indian corn, which only
occasionally comes to maturity in the most favoured spots. Autumnal sown
wheat is similarly situated, and the wheat of the country sown in spring
is of the most inferior quality. Fahrenheit’s thermometer having stood
twelve degrees below the freezing point at Albany, in the state of New
York, on the 29th October, 1833, the cold, in all probability, must have
been greater in Lower Canada, which is several degrees of latitude
farther north. Accordingly, a gentleman of my acquaintance, who settled
in the township of Leeds, stated in a letter, “that misery and famine
stared farmers in the face; frost having set in early, all their turnips
and potatoes had been destroyed, and, in some cases, also their grain
crops.” The condition of the animals is also evidence of the severity of
the climate. Sheep and oxen, as seen by me in the months of summer, were
mere skin and bone compared with those of Britain, which I attributed,
in a great measure, to the cold of winter; and sheep of the Leicester
breed, sent from East Lothian, sunk under its effects in the most
southerly part of the province.
However much the man of pleasure may extol the winter of Lower Canada
for the glorious sleighing it affords—and its boasted advantages seem to
be confined to this mode of travelling—the industrious farmer must
regard it as an evil, by suspending his operations, and injuring his
live-stock. Nature here assists him more sparingly than in warmer
latitudes, and he will not live comfortably on cleared land by his own
labour, except in the most southerly parts of the province. To clear
forest land in most parts by his own exertions, would not reward him for
five or six years afterwards, if land was to be had for nothing, and its
inferior produce cannot afford good wages to labourers. For the farmer
of capital, the neighbourhood of Montreal holds out many advantages. The
province is not, however, favourable to farmers who are in search of
food and clothing for themselves and families, and still less so for
labourers of any description. Both classes must, of necessity, be idle
during a considerable portion of the year, and they are not likely to
improve their condition by emigrating from Britain to Lower Canada.
CHAPTER IV.
_Upper Canada—Inhabitants—Climate—Soil—Mode of Selling Land, and
Prices—Bad Effects of Selling on Credit—Situation of Settlers
without Capital—Price of Land in Upper Canada and the Western United
States—Price of Land, and Mode of Settlement Injurious to the
Province—Suggestions for Improving the State of the Country._
Upper Canada became a separate province in 1791. It is bounded on the
east by Lower Canada, and on the south by the river St Lawrence, and the
chain of rivers and lakes to the west, the waters of which form the St
Lawrence. The boundaries in the north, and in the extreme west towards
the Pacific Ocean, are perhaps not accurately defined, and the surface
of the province cannot be estimated.
About the time of settling the mouth of the St Lawrence, the French
penetrated into Upper Canada, and planted a colony on the river Detroit,
where their descendants still reside. At the close of the war, in 1793,
when the colonies of North America became independent of Britain, many
inhabitants of the United States, who adhered to the government of the
mother-country, moved into Upper Canada, where they obtained grants of
land. At the same time many disbanded soldiers also received land. In
this way parts of the shores of lake Ontario, and lake Erie, and the
banks of the Niagara, Detroit, and Thames, were first settled. More
recently, many people of Dutch and German extraction have settled in the
provinces, as well as subjects of the United States; and there has been
a constant stream of emigration from Britain. The population, chiefly
found on the lakes and rivers, may amount to about 400,000, the greater
part being of British descent.
Upper Canada differs from the lower province in climate, by having a
longer summer and a shorter winter; while the extremes of heat and cold,
as indicated by the thermometer, are nearly the same in both provinces.
The waters of the St Lawrence and lakes, forming the southern boundary
of the district, inclining north-east, the climate improves in ascending
the waters, till reaching Amherstburgh, in about 42 degrees of latitude.
The province, as far as it is accurately known, has not an eminence of
sufficient height to affect temperature, and the climate of the
different situations may be estimated according to their latitudes. In
the most southerly parts, near the head of lake Erie, the length of
winter varies from two to three months. Ploughing commences about the
first of April; and cattle and horses are allowed to roam in the woods
during winter,—a practice which marks the mildness of climate, and also,
perhaps, the laziness of the inhabitants.
The climate of Upper Canada is as healthy as the lower province,
although the inhabitants are more liable to sickness from the surface
not being so well cleared of forest. On my first entry to the country, I
thought to judge of the healthiness of situations by the countenances of
the inhabitants, and if all of them had been born in the country, this
might have been a just criterion. There is something in the climate of
America which seems to impart a sallow and seared complexion to the
people. It is, however, many years before some natives of Britain lose
their florid colour; and I have seen several people retaining their
complexion after having resided twenty years in the province, while
their children had the general hue of the country. Being unable to judge
whether the people had been born in the country, or were lately arrived
from Britain, I abandoned the idea of taking the appearance of the
inhabitants as an index to healthiness of situation. As I proceeded
westward, towards Chatham and Amherstburgh, the complexion of the people
became less florid, which I attributed to most of them being natives of
the country. I found people afflicted with ague in many places, after
having resided years in the district; and from information which I
received, deserving of credit, I was led to believe almost every
European has a seasoning, or an attack of the ague. The rapidity and
severity of the attack, however, depends in a great measure on the
situation of individuals being aggravated by fatigue, imperfect
clothing, bad food, and a damp house.[5]
Footnote 5:
The following extracts are from the correspondence of my brother
Charles, dated Detroit, 7th August, 1834:—
“Through how many exciting scenes have I passed since we parted! For
two months tossed upon a stormy sea, with a disagreeable captain, in a
crazy vessel!—seen the most sublime of nature’s works, a stormy sea,
and such a storm!—stood on deck when not a soul, from the captain to
the cabin-boy, expected to live ten minutes! I have experienced
delight consequent on deliverance; leaped with joy at the sight of
land; admired the fairy scenery of Long Island and the Hudson when the
orchards were in full blossom,—and it is a sight of indescribable
beauty! I have travelled up the North river, at the rate of fifteen
miles an hour, in the finest steam-boats in the world—shot along the
railroads—crawled on the canals—been shaken in stage-coaches—and
crossed lakes Erie and Ontario, which for magnitude deserve the names
of inland seas. I have walked since the 7th of June 210 miles in Upper
Canada, 200 in Ohio, 50 in Pennsylvania, 160 in Illinois, and 150 in
Indiana and Michigan; in all nearly 800 miles. Some say, the
thermometer stood from 95 to 101 degrees in the shade. Often were my
clothes as wet with perspiration as if I had waded a river; still I
never experienced that lazy, listless feeling I have done during warm
weather in Scotland. My appetite was always keen, and it still
continues so.”
After residing in Upper Canada, on a second visit, for the space of
about 20 days, he writes from Cleveland,—“Do not be astonished at
learning I have got the ague. I have had three shaking days,—my
appetite is entirely gone. One day I feel quite well, and the next as
helpless as a child; and, altogether, the ague is not a pleasant
companion. I shall endeavour to bear it patiently.”
From Cincinnati he writes,—“When I wrote about fourteen days ago, I
was suffering from fever and ague, and had made up my mind to have it
for a companion for some months; but it only stayed with me a week. By
medicine and care I succeeded in banishing it, and now feel quite
well. It was brought on by carelessness and a desire to travel
cheaply. I have no doubt it will have a good effect in making me more
careful in future.”
The surface of Upper Canada is remarkable for want of hills, but much of
it is considerably undulating; and where this formation prevailed, I
generally found the soil of inferior quality. The soil is variable in
all districts; much of it is very bad; and it may generally be termed of
medium quality. I could only judge of the soil by its natural
appearance, which would be improved by cultivation. In all parts of the
country, I found sandy soils the least productive; those composed of
clay and heavy loam bearing the best crops of every description.
Almost all the writers who have treated of the soil of Upper Canada have
represented the kinds of trees which grow on it an index of its quality;
but, after extensive observation, I was unable to trace the connexion
generally. From the number of mouldering trees with which the forest is
strewed, I was led to imagine, generation hath succeeded generation
since the beginning of time; and it is an admitted fact, that one
description of tree hath frequently been succeeded by a different
species over a considerable extent of surface. Under these
circumstances, the kinds of trees have often more connexion with
preceding events and species than the soil; and I regretted time did not
admit of my attempting to investigate the longevity of the trees, and
the kinds which succeed each other, or continue without change of
species. It is, however, quite certain, that the oak is found occupying
exclusively the best and the worst soils of the province, being that of
sand, clay, and loam. Were it necessary, I could point out tracts of
country in support of what I have advanced, and districts where a change
of species of tree takes place without any apparent difference of soil.
If the kind of tree is not a criterion of soil, neither is the size of
the trees, which often depends on the number of them on a given space.
The quality of soil can only be ascertained by examination with a spade
or some such instrument, and which ought also to embrace the subsoil. By
such a mode of proceeding a judge of land cannot be deceived. It is as
easy to learn to discriminate soils as trees, and both may be examined
with the same facility.
The whole surveyed land of Upper Canada is held by English tenure, with
exception, perhaps, of some patches on the banks of the Detroit,
occupied by people of French descent. There is a register in every
township, in which money mortgaged on land must be entered before it is
recoverable, and by consulting which every purchaser may ascertain if
good titles to an estate can be obtained.
The lands are in possession of the crown, the Canada Company, and
private individuals, and may be had at all times to a reasonable extent.
The crown lands are disposed of according to the following document:—
“GOVERNMENT LANDS.
“In conformity to instructions recently received from his Majesty’s
Secretary of State for the Colonies, the following arrangements for
disposing of the waste lands of the crown in Upper Canada, are made
known for the information of emigrants and others.
“Except in the case of U. E. Loyalists, and other persons entitled by
the existing regulations of the government to free grants, no person
can obtain any of the waste lands of the crown otherwise than by
purchasing at the public sales, made from time to time under the
direction of the commissioner of crown lands.
“These sales will be made on the first and third Tuesday of each
month, and will either be continued through the following day or not,
as circumstances may appear to the agent to require.
“They will be held at the following places:—
“At Bytown, for the district of Bathurst.
“At Belleville, for the midland district.
“At Peterborough, for the district of Newcastle.
“At York, for the home district.
“At Hamilton, for the district of Gore.
“At London, for the district of London.
“At Chatham, for the western district.
“Besides these general periodical sales, there may be occasional sales
by auction in other districts, of such town lots, or other lots of
land as may remain to be disposed of; and of these sales ample notice
will be given.
“The conditions of every sale by public auction will be as
follows:—One fourth of the purchase money to be paid down, and the
remainder in three equal annual instalments, with interest at six per
cent on each instalment, payable with the instalment.
“The lands will be put up at an upset price, of which notice will be
given at the time of sale, and in the previous advertisements which
will be published of the lands intended to be put up at each sale; and
in case no offer shall be made at the upset price, the land will be
reserved for future sale in a similar manner by auction.
“A patent for the lands will be issued free of charge upon the payment
in full of the purchase money and interest.
“The regular periodical sales will be held for the first time as
follows:—In Peterborough, York, and Hamilton, on the third Tuesday in
June next; and in Bytown, Belleville, London, and Chatham, on the
first Tuesday in July next; and they will continue to be held at all
those places on the first and third Tuesdays in each month, until
after the first Tuesday in November next; when such other arrangements
as may be made by the government will be announced.
“Information can be obtained respecting the lands to be disposed of in
the several districts, by applying to the following gentlemen, agents
for the commissioners of crown lands, viz.:
“In the Bathurst district, Mr John M‘Naughton, D.S. Bytown.
“In the eastern district, James Pringle, Esquire, Cornwall.
“In the Newcastle district, Alexander M^cDonell, Esquire,
Peterborough.
“In the London district, Roswell Mount, Esquire, Delaware.
“In the western district, Henry John Jones, Esquire, Chatham.
“The commissioner for crown lands, acting also as agent for the sale
of clergy reserves, requests it to be noticed, that such clergy
reserves as have not been hitherto occupied by authority, or leased by
the government, will be disposed of, by public auction only, either at
the periodical sales of crown lands or at occasional sales, to be duly
advertised; and that the terms of payment for clergy reserves will
continue to be as follows:—Ten per cent to be paid at the time of
sale, and the remainder in nine annual instalments of ten per cent
each, with interest on each instalment, to be paid with the instalment
“Such clergy reserves as have been leased, or occupied by the
authority of the government, must be applied for by letter to the
Commissioner of Crown Lands, and when disposed of, will be sold by
private sale on the same terms of payment as those disposed of by
public auction.
“All applications from emigrants, or respecting emigration, not
immediately connected with the sale of public lands, are to be
addressed to ANTHONY B. HAWKE, Esquire, at York, he being specially
appointed by the government to act in that department.
“PETER ROBINSON.
“_Commissioner of Crown Lands’ Office_,
“_York, 27th May, 1833._”
By an advertisement dated Taronto, (late York,) 10th April, 1834, the
upset price of lands in the Newcastle district is fixed at 10s., and the
land surrendered by the Six Nations at 15s. per acre. The same
advertisement announces clergy reserves, on condition of actual
settlement, ten per cent of the price paid at the time of sale, and the
remainder at nine annual instalments, with interest of six per cent on
each instalment.
East of Bear Creek—17s. 6d. and the remainder 10s. The township of
Chatham, 15s.; Madoc, 7s. 6d.; London, 15s. per acre, Halifax currency.
The mode of disposing of crown lands has been subject of frequent
complaint by newly arrived emigrants, and the whole system merits
censure. I met individuals who had travelled more than one hundred miles
from York to examine lands in the west, and returned again to York to
petition and make interest with the authorities to get certain lots put
up for sale. When they succeeded, they had to live in idleness for a
month until the day of sale arrived, and again travel to the place of
sale. Sometimes applications to have lands put up for sale are
frustrated, and rather than suffer delay and dance attendance on men of
influence, many people have passed into the United States, where a
person can go to the land-office of the district and fix on any lot
which pleases him. There cash is the only interest that can be employed,
and its non-payment the only delay to settlement.
Paying the purchase-money by instalments induces people without capital
to become purchasers, who, for the interest of themselves and the
community, ought to have assisted others in clearing and cultivating
land, until they had accumulated sufficient capital, by saving, to
purchase without credit. To the system of disposing of land by credit,
much of the wretchedness and poverty of the present Canadian landholders
may be justly attributed. The experience of the United States government
demonstrated this, and a law was passed to abolish credit on the price
of land. How difficult it seems to be for Britain to adopt legislation
to the existing age of the world!
The Canada Company possess immense tracts of country, and sell land on
terms similar to government, giving credit and drawbacks to induce
people to purchase. The price of the company’s land at Goderich is 7s.
6d. per acre, and equal to the price of crown lands in other parts.
Much land is held by absentee proprietors, or the members of the party
who sway the councils of the province. It is commonly in the hands of
agents empowered to sell. The prices are generally higher than crown
lands, and credit unlimited.
The greater portion of British emigrants, arriving in Canada without
funds and the most exalted ideas of the value and productiveness of
land, purchase extensively on credit, and take up their abode in the
midst of the forest, with the proudest feelings of independence, and in
the confident hope of meeting their engagements, and becoming fine
gentlemen at the end of a few years. Every thing goes on well for a
short time. A log-house is erected with the assistance of old settlers,
and the clearing of forest is commenced. Credit is obtained at a
neighbouring store, and at length it is found necessary to work a day or
two in the week for hire to obtain food for the family. The few garden
stuffs and field crops, grown the first year, produce little for want of
a free circulation of air, and the imperfect manner in which they had
been sown. Should fever and ague now visit the emigrant, which is
frequently the case, the situation of himself and family, enfeebled by
disease, is truly wretched. Hope is, however, still bright, and he
struggles through the second year, with better crops and prospects than
the preceding one. The third year brings him good crops, which furnish a
supply of food for his establishment. During this period he has led a
life of toil and privation, being poorly fed and most uncomfortably
lodged. But the thoughts of owning so many fair acres has been a
never-failing source of joy and sweetener of life. On arrival of the
fourth harvest, he is reminded by the storekeeper to pay his account
with cash, or discharge part of it with his disposable produce, for
which he gets a very small price. He is also informed that the
purchase-money of the land has been accumulating with interest. The
phantom of prosperity, conjured up by his imagination, is now dispelled,
and, on calmly looking into his affairs, he finds himself poorer than
when he commenced operations. Disappointment preys on his spirits, and
the aid of whisky is perhaps sought to raise them. The hopelessness of
his situation renders him indolent and immoral. The land ultimately
reverts to the former proprietor, or a new purchaser is found.
To render the situation of an emigrant purchasing without capital more
evident, his case shall be illustrated by figures. Suppose 200 acres,
which is the common size of lots purchased, at 15s., and that the
emigrant has the means of maintaining himself without working for hire,
and continues in good health. The three first crops being required to
feed the family and obtain necessaries, he may be supposed to have
nearly thirty acres in crop the fourth year, if he has been very
industrious, but making allowance for stumps, fences, and roads, the
actual surface in crop will not exceed twenty acres. At this time, near
the end of the fifth year, when the fourth crop is reaped, the
purchase-money, and interest on it, will amount to about L.200. The
interest of this sum at the rate of the country is L.12, and a burden on
the land in crop of more than 10s. an acre, which it cannot meet. In
this estimate there is no return made for forest land, which is
generally as unproductive of grass as the surface of the sea. It is the
quantity of land purchased which operates so unfavourably on the
settler. If, in the case chosen for illustration, 50 had been purchased
instead of 200 acres, the result would have been very different. It is
seldom a person depending on his labour clears and cultivates more than
40 acres in course of his life. Therefore 50 acres is a sufficient
extent for such a character to buy, and under no circumstances ought he
to exceed 100 acres.
In the case where the purchase-money has been paid, the settler finds
himself but indifferently off, and generally indebted to storekeepers.
It must, however, be kept in view, that the land which has been cleared
is of considerable value, and at the end of the fifth or sixth year, an
industrious man may have his property worth much more money than he paid
for it.
There is never any hesitation in selling land to a man without capital,
as the rights of it are withheld. Every tree which is cut down enhances
the value of the property, which is unproductive while they are
standing. When a settler absconds after some years’ residence, a case by
no means rare, the proprietor derives great advantage from his
operations. An agent to a very extensive and wild property, informed me
he had sold twenty-five lots of land, consisting of about 6000 acres,
and received in all of purchase-money L.300.
If the sketch which I have given of settlers without capital is thought
to be overdrawn, from the fact of so many individuals having become
prosperous, let it be remembered that land was formerly granted on
paying fees of office, and without purchase. The system of selling land
on credit, and contracting debt at stores, hath proved ruinous of late
years to settlers without capital, who have no other means of
extricating themselves than selling their properties.
In almost every district people are found anxious to sell land, and
small farms may be bought on cheaper terms than lands belonging to the
crown, Canada Company, or large proprietors, more especially if cash is
paid. Indeed the necessities of many people are so urgent, and credit so
general, that an individual with cash in his pocket may drive a good
bargain at all times.
In a country of such diversity of soil, climate, and situation as Upper
Canada, the price of land in its territory must be extremely variable,
and will be found to run from 2s. 6d. to L.6 per acre. On a general
view, it is cheapest in the southern part of the western district, when
climate and soil are taken into consideration. Few settlers have located
themselves of late years in this part of the country, and trade can
scarcely be said to have travelled so far west in Canada.
Steam-navigation will, however, soon alter the present state of things
in this quarter.
When the extent of unoccupied surface, the extent of soil which is
occupied and remaining uncleared, and the tens of millions of acres
which have never been surveyed, are considered, the price of Canadian
land is extravagantly high, and far above its intrinsic value to actual
settlers. Land, like other things, is cheap or dear by comparison,
government land in the United States being sold at 6s. 3d. Halifax
currency, ready-money, ought to make the British government blush for
its policy in Canada. The price of land surrendered by the Six Nations,
and covered with forest, is fixed at 15s. per acre, which is more than
double the price of government land in the western United States,
superior in quality, situated in a finer climate, clothed with luxuriant
grass, and without an obstacle to immediate cultivation. The credit,
with accumulating interest on the price of land in Canada, is
practically an evil to the purchaser and the country. It is population
alone which imparts value to land, and a more effectual method could not
be devised for preventing a farther influx of inhabitants to Upper
Canada, and draining away many of those already settled, than government
adhering to the present upset prices of land.
The want of information which could be relied on regarding the United
States, and the praises lavished on Upper Canada by interested parties,
has drawn a number of emigrants to this district of late years. The
stream of emigration has, however, begun to take a different course, and
the price of land in Canada will tend to steady its direction. It is a
knowledge of the Western States, joined to their pecuniary difficulties,
which makes so many farmers anxious to sell their properties. The late
rise in the price of land operates as an inducement for enterprising
individuals to leave the province, and already some of them yearly take
their departure.
But the whole system of settling land in Canada has been bad for many
years. The retention of two-sevenths of the land for crown and clergy
reserves, retarded improvement of every description, and granting
immense tracts to favourites of government increased the evil. Bestowing
grants of 200 acres by favour of government, or private individuals,
prevented settlers choosing situations for themselves, and they were
often directed to unfavourable parts of the country, with a view perhaps
of enhancing the value of properties in the neighbourhood. A lot of 200
acres of forest land was too great an extent to grant unconditionally to
settlers, without capital, as experience proves they seldom clear 50
acres with aid of a family. From these causes the province may be said
to be overrun instead of having been settled,—the evils of a
forest-covered surface perpetuated, and the good effects which result
from concentration and unity of population effectually retarded.
It might now perhaps be difficult to remedy the state of things. A tax
ought to be levied on forest-land above a specified extent, to check
speculation in land, and induce large landholders to sell or improve
their possessions. Land ought to be sold cheap, in small lots, for ready
money, on condition of actual settlement and annually clearing a certain
extent. The Canada Company ought to be got rid of, or forced to dispose
of its land at fixed prices, and on stipulated conditions. Britain, in
legislating for Upper Canada, should do justice to the colonists and the
home subjects who may wish to emigrate. But in all likelihood she does
not now possess the power of carrying proper views into effect. The land
of the province being held at a monopoly price, operates as a barrier to
British emigration, and is a tax on the industrious who reach the
province, principally for the benefit of absentees.
Much as Upper Canada appears to me to have been misgoverned, her evils
are not likely soon to end. The properties of a great portion of the
industrious farmers are either mortgaged to storekeepers or capitalists,
and almost the whole of the influential inhabitants are interested in
land. The men filling official situations generally having large
estates, the managers of the Canada Company, and of other extensive
tracts of land, will oppose, from selfishness, the introduction of a
better system, and endeavour to perpetuate the present state of things.
I had little opportunity of judging if the inhabitants are fit to govern
themselves. They will, however, find it a most arduous task to get rid
of the present party in power, and a separation from the mother country
would, in all probability lessen their chance. Upper Canada is likely to
separate from Britain in seeking to retain monopolies.
CHAPTER V.
_Productions—Agricultural Societies—Want of Pasturage—Progress of
Forest Settlement—First Crops on Forest Land—Worn-out Soil—Mildewed
Wheat—Misrepresentations of Canada—Mr Ferguson’s Statement—Township
of Nichol—Praises and Detractions—Choosing a situation—Advantages
and disadvantages of Upper Canada for different Emigrants—State of
the Inhabitants—Constitution—Game._
The productions of the country are various, and embrace almost every
thing that is desirable in life. Wheat is the staple commodity. Indian
corn ripens well in the most southerly parts, but is not extensively
cultivated any where, and, in the present state of the country, is an
uncertain crop beyond 41½ degrees of latitude. Oats, rye, barley, peas,
and millet, number amongst the grains. Tobacco, turnips, potatoes,
melons, apples, pears, and peaches, amongst the vegetables and fruits.
The climate of the southern parts is genial, the industry of man applied
to the cultivation of the soil renders it fruitful.
The agriculture of Upper Canada has not been reduced to a system in the
oldest cultivated parts, and is carried on in the rudest manner in
recently settled districts. The legislature having lately appropriated
L.100 to each district for the encouragement of agriculture, societies
have been formed for this purpose in Niagara and other districts. I am
possessed of a copy of the Niagara District Agricultural Society’s
rules, and its exertions will, in all likelihood, be directed to the
improvement of stock.
In all countries perhaps, and more especially in one covered with dense
forests like Upper Canada, the first efforts of the inhabitants are
directed to the growing of grain for their own subsistence, and pastural
agriculture is introduced at a later period. This course of farming
must, of necessity, have been followed in Canada, as the forest does not
yield a single blade of grass, which is owing, perhaps, to the rays of
the sun being excluded from the surface of the earth throughout the
whole season, by winter’s snow, the foliage of summer, and the fallen
leaves of autumn. The severity of winter would also retard the keeping
of animals, as an artificial supply of food and shelter is necessary to
their existence. So defective is the pastoral farming of Upper Canada,
that almost every town or village of magnitude in the district is
dependent on the United States for the sheep and cattle which are
slaughtered for the use of the inhabitants. Mr Somerville of Whitby
accounted for this, on the ground, that all oxen reared in the country
were required by new settlers to plough the soil. It is, however, quite
evident, that there is not a sufficient extent of cleared surface on
almost any farm to graze breeding stock, and provide them with proper
food for winter. The rearing and fatting of animals in Canada must
require such a division of labour as did not come under my notice while
in the country, and the time has scarcely arrived when it can be
successfully adopted. The animals of every kind are of an inferior
description, and no great improvement can be effected with them until
proper winter food and shelter are supplied. The working oxen are
chiefly obtained from the States.
Most new settlers find difficulty in providing pasturage for their milch
cows; and butter made from the cream of animals roaming in the forest is
often of the worst quality. I have been at the residence of settlers who
could not produce butter of their own manufacturing at table in the
fourth year of their farming. The want of grass is one of the greatest
privations of first settlement.
In the old cultivated districts manure is sometimes applied to land.
Gypsum is frequently used successfully to clover and Indian corn, and
Providence seems to have provided most of the districts composed of sand
with an inexhaustible store of gypsum, to which soils it is chiefly
applicable. I could not learn that lime had been tried. The robbing
system hath long been followed, and its effects are every where
apparent.
The progress of bush or forest settlement admits of little choice. After
a log-house hath been erected, the trees are cut down with an axe, about
three feet from the ground, the branches are lopped off and the trunks
chopped into lengths of about fifteen feet, piled together, and burnt.
The piling, or logging, as it is called, is by far the most arduous part
of the process, requiring the aid of several men and oxen. The burning
cannot be effected but in dry weather, and I learned considerable
importance was attached to a clean or effectual burning. The ground is
then fenced by means of rails, split from logs by an axe, and piled
above each other—the whole country being considered common when not
properly fenced. The ground is then sown with wheat, or planted with
Indian corn, or some other crop, and the harrow passed over the ground,
it being impracticable to use the plough for the stumps and roots of
trees. At the expiry of seven years, the stumps are found to be decayed,
and the plough may then be employed. From the time of clearing, the land
may have been cropped by means of the harrow, or employed in producing
grass. There is little room for the display of genius or management, the
process being nearly the same in all cases.
From the ashes of the timber a great deal of potash was at one time
made, and sent to Britain; but a substitute having been found for this
commodity, the ashes are generally spread on the ground, and sometimes,
when the land is too rich, they are removed for manure to another part
of the farm. When soil is viewed as a workshop, laying prostrate the
members of the forest must be a cheering employment to the contemplative
landowner. Being of no value in its original state, every sunbeam which
darts on the surface, by removal of the trees, is assurance of imparted
fertility, and never-ending productiveness; and as the light streams in
from heaven, his heart will be filled with gratitude to God, and his arm
nerved for new exertion. But the chopping of timber is a most laborious
task to one unaccustomed to handle the axe, and the person possessed of
a little capital had better pay others for clearing land, than attempt
it himself on a large scale. To clear a farm out of the midst of the
forest, by personal exertion, requires such an iron constitution and
strength of arm as few British agriculturists of middle age possess.
Many individuals who make the attempt excavate a small space, that may
be termed an hospital, which ultimately becomes their graveyard.
I experienced disappointment at crops on newly cleared land being so
indifferent, having been led to suppose they were generally too
luxuriant. Believing every vegetable substance to be composed of the
same elements, and reduceable by decay, so as to enter into new
combinations, I fancied the soil the very essence of fertility, from
having been enriched with the decaying leaves of many centuries. If all
the woody fibre of the forest and vegetable mould which covers the
surface could be at once decomposed, my anticipated fertility would be
realized. But in burning the trees, fire passes over the entire surface,
and consumes almost every particle of vegetable matter. The agency of
fire, joined to the imperfect tilling of the soil, will sufficiently
account for the want of luxuriance in first crops, which may generally
be considered a fortunate circumstance, when a free circulation of air
is prevented.
Settlers have often been cautioned against purchasing what is termed
worn-out soil, timbered land being preferable. This appears to me to be
one of the many deceptions used to entrap the unwary emigrant into the
wilderness. I have already observed the first crops are not luxuriant
after clearing the forest. The first wheat crop is, however, the best
one until the stumps decay, when the soil will afterwards improve with
good management. The most productive wheat crops, combining quantity and
quality, are found on the oldest cultivated soils. Much soil hath been
abandoned to nature after being cleared, not owing, however, to its
having become exhausted, but to its natural inferiority. It is better to
restore the most exhausted soil than clear forest land of the same
quality. Nature never becomes exhausted, and the farmer has only to do
his part in order to obtain her bounty.
In course of my tour in North America, I was particular in my enquiries
regarding mildewed wheat, knowing how destructive the disease is to that
grain, as well as to others visited by it. Many growing crops and
bundles of straw of the previous year’s growth were examined, and the
result of my observations tended to strengthen the opinions I had formed
of the origin and localities of its effects.
Mildew appears to me to result from frost, produced by the radiation of
heat, rupturing the sap-vessels, and the moisture which exudes being
favourable to the germination of the seeds of the fungus which grows on
the straw of the plant, and checks the filling of the grain. It has been
established by repeated experiment, that in certain states of the
atmosphere, cold, within the limits of freezing, takes place on the
surface of the earth when the temperature, at an elevation of a few
feet, is ten or twelve degrees warmer. This is beautifully explained in
“Wells’ Essay on Dew,” which I recommend to farmers wishing to become
acquainted with atmospheric effects on vegetation. The natural agency
favourable to the radiation of heat, or production of cold, is a clear
sky and still atmosphere. The luxuriance of crops is a predisposing
cause to a visitation of mildew, from the breadth, colour, and
succulency of the foliage.
In the year 1830, I made an attempt to prove the correctness of my
opinions regarding mildew by experiment. My apparatus, which was of the
simplest kind, was often exposed; but the difficulty of catching a
favourable atmosphere rendered all my attempts unsatisfactory; but some
of my observations with the thermometer were remarkable. On the 19th
August, at eight o’clock in the evening, a delicate thermometer, on
Fahrenheit’s scale, at four feet from the ground, indicated 45°; and a
similar one, immediately below the other, exposed on the surface of the
grass, 38°; and at half-past eight, respectively, 47° and 43°, the wind
having risen in the interval. Next morning, at four o’clock, the
thermometers stood at 38° and 35°; and another, enclosed in a
glass-case, and exposed on the outside of a window, at 45°. At five
o’clock, the thermometer, four feet from the ground, indicated 34°, and
the one on the grass, 30½°. The thermometer at the window remained
unaltered, and, being removed from the case, was placed with the other
two on a piece of lodged spring-sown wheat. At a quarter past five, all
the three indicated 29¾°. The sun was then a little above the horizon,
and obscured by a small cloud; the sky was clear, the air still, and
mild to human feeling. In the same situation, the thermometers, at eight
o’clock, indicated 55°, and at two P. M. 75°. At ten in the evening, the
thermometer, four feet from the ground, stood at 44°, and the one on the
grass, at 42°. At half-past four on the morning of the 21st, the
thermometer, four feet from the ground, stood at 34°, one on the grass,
at 28¾°, and one on the wheat, at 29°. The thermometers on the grass and
wheat were thinly coated with ice, and the morning was clear and
agreeable. The formation of dew was not very copious on either of the
mornings, and my reapers made no remark about cold or frost when
handling the grain. The field of spring-sown wheat, already mentioned,
and one of barley, were at this time in a green state, and very
promising; but the grain made no farther improvement, and mildew
appeared on both crops in a day or two afterwards.
Although I have not been able to produce mildew by artificial means, the
observations made with the thermometers in 1830 almost amount to a
demonstration of its origin. Every case of mildew, whether general or
partial, in a district, may be accounted for by cold produced by the
radiation of heat, coupled with the state of the crops; and the
hypothesis has been strongly supported by Scottish writers on practical
husbandry, Brown and Aiton, while recording, as the cause of mildew,
natural phenomena which result from or generally accompany the radiation
of heat.
But from whatever cause mildew may proceed, there is no question of the
wheat crop, throughout a considerable extent of North America, being
liable to its effects. Many instances of mildew are recorded in my tour;
and I scarcely passed through a district, the surface of which consisted
of sudden undulations, or small forest clearances, where the wheat was
not seriously injured by it. Some accounts which I have received from
parts of Upper Canada for 1834, allude to the destruction of wheat by
frost. In all partially cleared parts of Upper Canada, with exception
perhaps of situations on the margins of lakes, wheat will suffer from
mildew. The want of success which so often attends first crops on small
clearances in the midst of the forest, is in all probability owing to
the frosts of spring, summer, and autumn, caused by the radiation of
heat, and which a free circulation of air will alone prevent. This
casualty is a serious evil to first settlers, and ought to form part of
their calculations in choosing a situation.
Upper Canada has been much overrated by some people who have visited the
country. Many of the written accounts may be regarded as advertisements;
and the statements have been the means of deceiving the unwary. During
my sojourn in the province, I frequently heard Mr Adam Fergusson of
Woodhill become the subject of reproach; and this season, the clamour is
loud against him. A correspondent states in one of his letters,—“Many
extravagant notions of America are entertained at home. Some people will
form such notions in spite of any writing; but certainly many absurd
things have been published about America by individuals who have
travelled through the country without mixing with the people, or who
seem to have written from interested motives. I know not how the
Highland Society of Scotland will like to hear of Mr Fergusson’s errors.
Its patronage certainly tended to mislead many. I have met with people
in this part of the world who told me so, and who rail against him at a
great rate.”
I agree with my correspondent in thinking the patronage which the
Highland Society bestowed on Mr Fergusson added weight to his
statements, and some of its members will feel disappointed at hearing
them called in question. Societies, however, like individuals, often
misplace confidence, and spurn the advances of real merit. But his most
objectionable matter is contained in “Practical Notes made during a
Second Visit to Canada in 1833,” with which the Highland Society is not
connected.
Mr Adam Fergusson of Woodhill occupied a respectable, and perhaps an
elevated, place in Scotland. He was understood to be a leading director
in one of the first agricultural societies in the world, and acted
conspicuously in the public matters of Perthshire, one of the most
important counties of his native country. He was considered to have a
competent knowledge of agriculture, and to be a person deserving of
credit. But his character renders the statements he has put forth more
mischievous, and their exposure more necessary. To have censured Mr
Fergusson’s statements would have been painful to my feelings under any
circumstances, and is especially so at present, when he is so far
removed. It is, however, a duty I owe my countrymen to be candid, and
they shall be allowed an opportunity of judging of our sentiments on
Canadian farming.
After stating he has purchased a block of 7000 acres in the township of
Nichol, he adds, “In reference to the capabilities of Nichol, I offer
with some confidence the following calculations. With a capital of L.500
sterling, which is equal to L.600 currency, a man may purchase and
improve 200 acres of wild land in Nichol.
FIRST YEAR.
The purchase money of 200 acres, at $4 per
acre, or L.1 currency per acre, L.200 0 0
A log-house, 50 0 0
Some furniture for log-house, 20 0 0
Barn, including stable and cow-house, 50 0 0
Household and other expenses till after
harvest, Clear, fence, and sow, 50 acres
with wheat, at 30 0 0
L.4 per acre, 200 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.550 0 0
—————— —— ——
On the 50 acres of wheat he will have 25
bushels per acre, which, at 4s. 6d. per
bushel, L.281 5 0
Deduct expense of harvesting, L.35 5 0
Household and other expenses, 46 0 0
——— —— —— 81 5 0
—————— —— ——
Clears the first year, L.200 0 0
SECOND YEAR.
He expends this year as much of the L.200 as
will clear 37½ acres more, which, at the
same rate as last year, will be L.150 0 0
The other L.50 he has for purchasing a team
of oxen, and household expenses till after
harvest, 50 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.200 0 0
This year he has the original 50 acres and the 37½ cleared this season,
all in wheat, the seed for the 50 acres to be debited against the
ensuing crop.
87½ acres, at 25 bushels at 4s. 6d. L.492 3 9
Expense of harvesting, &c. L.61 10 5
Seed, as above for 50 acres, at 1 bushel per
acre, at 4s. 6d. 11 5 0
Household and other expenses, 39 8 4
—————— —— —— 112 3 9
—————— —— ——
Clears the second year, L.380 0 0
THIRD YEAR.
All having been hitherto done by contract,
there has now to be charged the expense of
stocking the farm, and servants’ wages and
board, L.285 0 0
Wheat seed for 87½ acres, at 1 bushel per
acre, at 4s. 6d. 19 3 9
Grass seed for 25 acres, at 3s. per acre, 3 15 0
Assistance during harvest, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, 52 1 3
—————— —— ——
L.380 0 0
Has the same crop as last year, but not at so much expense in
thrashing, and his own servants assisting.
87½ acres in wheat, L.492 3 9
Assistance in thrashing, &c. L.35 0 0
Household and other expenses, 37 3 9
—————— —— —— 72 3 9
—————— —— ——
Clears this year, L.420 0 0
FOURTH YEAR.
He clears 62½ acres more, making in all 150 acres cleared, which is
sufficient on a farm of 200 acres.
He this year plants some potatoes, sows turnips, &c. on that part of
the 50 acres, first cleared, not in grass.
To clear, fence, and sow 62½ acres, L.250 0 0
Erects a thrashing machine, 80 0 0
Builds some houses for feeding stock, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, 30 0 0
Sundry improvements about the house, 40 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.420 0 0
—————— —— ——
Has this year the 37½ acres formerly cleared,
and the _62½_ cleared this year.
In wheat, 100 acres at the same rate, L.562 10 0
The other 50 acres valued at, 120 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.682 10 0
Deduct for household and other expenses, 82 10 0
—————— —— ——
L.600 0 0
At the end of the fourth year he has his farm paid for, stocked, and
L.600 currency in his pocket.”
The result of a statement depends entirely on the data which have been
assumed, and there is no doubt of Mr Fergusson’s, in the quoted account,
being very erroneous. The chief error consists in clearing land, sowing
it with wheat, and reaping the crop in the first year, which is an
impossibility. The same error is repeated in the fourth year. Thus four
instead of three crops are reaped in the time specified. I am aware that
land has been let to be cleared, on condition of not being paid for
until after a crop has been reaped. Mr Fergusson cannot, however, escape
from his error on this account, because he does not mention the
circumstance, and the cost of clearing being very low, is entered along
with the purchase-money of the land, the building of the house, and
household expenses of the first year. Three successive crops of wheat
are taken from the first cleared portion of the ground, without a
falling off in the crop, which is an absurdity, and such a mode of
cropping is almost never had recourse to. He has omitted the expense of
thrashing and marketing his crops, and also, sometimes, seed for sowing,
all of which may appear trifles to the writer of “_Practical Notes_,”
although of consequence to a farmer. He stocks with animals and servants
in the “third year.” The former must be valuable creatures, for they
live without food, at least the whole produce is charged as sold. But
the servants are superior to the animals, as they seem to live on air,
and refuse wages—the household, harvest, and other expenses in the
fourth year, when the crop consists of 100 acres of wheat, do not
greatly exceed the same charges in the second year, when there is 87½
acres in wheat, and no servants engaged. The farm is not stocked until
the third year, but a team of oxen is charged in the second, which,
perhaps, ought to have been written cows, as these necessary animals are
not mentioned elsewhere.
Mr Fergusson’s calculations do not appear accurate, and scarcely
intelligible in the way he has given them. They shall, therefore, be
arranged, without altering his data, as they would actually occur. The
entries marked with asterisks are new, and indispensable in practice.
FIRST YEAR.
Purchase-money of 200 acres, at $ 4, L.200 0 0
A log-house, 50 0 0
Some furniture for a log-house, 20 0 0
Barn, including stable and cow-house, 50 0 0
Household expenses, two entries, 76 0 0
Clear, fence, and sow, 50 acres with wheat,
at L.4, 200 0 0
SECOND YEAR.
Clear, fence, and sow 37½ acres with wheat,
at L.4, 150 0 0
Oxen, and household expenses, 50 0 0
Household and other expenses, 39 8 4
Expense of harvesting, 35 10 0
Seed for 50 acres of wheat, cleared the first
year, and sown again the second, at 4s.
6d. 11 5 0
* Harrowing and sowing, 12 10 0
* Threshing the crop, ⅑th of 1250 bushels, or
140 bushels, at 4s. 6d. 31 10 0
* Teaming to lake Ontario 1110 bushels, at
9d. 41 12 6
Crop, 50 acres of wheat will yield 25 bushels
per acre, and sell at 4s. 6d. per bushel, L.281 5 0
At the end of the second year L.967, 15s.
10d. has been expended, and L.281 received.
THIRD YEAR.
Stocking the farm, and servants’ wages and
board, 285 0 0
Grass seeds for 25 acres, at 3s. 3 15 0
Assistance during harvest, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, two entries, 89 5 0
Assistance in threshing, 35 0 0
* Seed for 37½ acres, at 4s. 6d. 8 8 9
Crop, 87½ acres of wheat will yield as
formerly, 492 0 0
At the end of the third year L.1408, 8s. 9d.
has been expended, and L.773, 5s. received.
FOURTH YEAR.
Clears, fences, and sows, 62½ acres, at L.4, 250 0 0
Erects a thrashing-machine, 80 0 0
Builds some houses for feeding stock, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, two entries, 112 10 0
Sundry improvements about the house, 40 0 0
* Seed for 25 acres, in turnip and potatoes, 15 0 0
Crop, 37½ acres wheat at former rate, 210 18 9
50 do. grass, valued at 120 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.1926 15 7 L.1104 3 9
At the end of the fourth year the landowner
is minus, L.822 11 10
====== == ==
The prospects of the farmer become better after the fourth year, and on
the assumed data he would soon become wealthy. At the end of the fourth
year, when the land has been cleared, the farm, with buildings,
furniture, stocking, and 100 acres of growing wheat, may be valued at
L.1200. By the original statement the fourth crop has been reaped, in
which case the farm, with buildings, stocking, and furniture, may be
valued at L.750. According to my way of arranging Mr Fergusson’s
statement, the purchaser of 200 acres of land at the end of the fourth
year is only worth L.427, 8s. 2d., or a loser of L.172, 11s. 10d. By the
original statement he is worth L.1400, or a gainer of L.800 above his
capital of L.600, after maintaining himself and family. Mr Fergusson’s
statement of Canadian farming, like the Marquis of Londonderry’s
application to Lord Liverpool, may be marked with the words “_too bad!_”
With due deference to Mr Fergusson’s practical knowledge, I may remark,
that he seems to have forgotten the part of the world in which Nichol is
situated when framing his statement. How are people to be obtained for
thinning turnip in the midst of a forest country, and who is to tend his
thrashing-machine?
The data of an agricultural statement must be very fluctuating at all
times, as the influence of the season affects the quantity and quality
of produce, and consequently prices. Mr Fergusson assumes 25 bushels of
wheat per acre as the produce of new cleared land, but the results of my
enquiries and observation, including chance of mildew and imperfect
cultivation from stumps, do not warrant their being rated higher than 18
bushels per acre. It appears odd that he should fix the price of wheat
in Nichol at 4s. 6d., when he quotes the Niagara price at 4s. 3d., and
it would require 9d. per bushel to bring wheat from Nichol to Lake
Ontario, where it would meet the same market as Niagara. At the time he
wrote, Nichol wheat could not be worth more than 3s. 6d. per bushel,
Halifax currency. But the price of wheat in Canada is regulated by the
prices of Britain. The expense of sending wheat from Nichol to Britain,
by way of the St Lawrence, including ensurance, freight, merchant’s
profit, and many other charges, will amount to nearly 4s. 3d., Halifax
currency, per bushel, and it may be worth in London 7s. 3d., which makes
wheat worth about 3s. at Nichol.
Having exposed Mr Fergusson’s statement, one of my own may perhaps be
expected, but nothing satisfactory of the sort can be framed. The
expense of clearing, fencing, and sowing, depends on the nature of the
timber, and varies from L.3, 10s. to L.5 per acre. The succeeding wheat
crop, also, varies from 12 to 25 bushels per acre, and prices from 1s.
6d. to 5s. per bushel. Generally speaking, money is not rapidly made by
clearing forest land, while patient industry seldom fails of being
ultimately remunerated.
The township of Nichol is not, however, such a situation as I would make
choice of, being situated too far to the north, and too distant from
water-carriage. Supposing the carriage or teaming of wheat, as it is
called in the language of the country, from Nichol to lake Ontario costs
9d. per bushel, and that two successive wheat crops are taken from
newly-cleared land, yielding 20 bushels each per acre, the carriage of
the produce to market will amount to 30s., or double the price of what
the land is originally worth, and this charge will operate as a tax, or
rent, on every crop that is raised afterwards. The distance from
water-conveyance, also, tends to render dear every imported commodity
that may be required. When the Ouse or Grand river is made navigable,
Nichol will be nearer water-carriage; but, at present, I would rather
pay a high price for land in a good situation and climate in Upper
Canada, than take a present of land in Nichol, if I was bound to occupy
it.
The writers of private letters, the verbal tales of individuals, and the
public journals, are often called into requisition to laud and
misrepresent the country, and people of Britain ought to consider the
accounts well before giving them credence. In a Montreal newspaper,
which lately reached me, I observed a paragraph announcing that a yacht
club had been formed at Goderich, of which Captain Dunlop was president.
At the time of my visit to Goderich, in the end of August, 1833, the
population were chiefly subsisting on flour and salt pork, imported from
Detroit. The harbour contained three craft of the smallest size, and I
did not see a boat or yacht of any description. The youth of Britain,
who anticipates displaying at Goderich the uniform of a yacht club, and
having the fair sex greeting his triumphant entry into the harbour by
the waving of handkerchiefs, may delay his departure for half a century.
A steam-boat had appeared off the village in 1833, and could not gain
admittance into the harbour for want of water. I did not learn the
object of her call, but I am sure all the disposable agricultural
produce of the settlement, up to the present time, would not freight a
nutshell.
Captain A——, in the township of Blenheim, was told by an agent of the
Canada Company, that a stage-coach would convey himself and family from
Hamilton to the property he had purchased. No such conveyance existed.
On representing the imposition which had been practised on him to the
managers at York, an abatement of price was offered. I saw the
correspondence on the subject.
If Upper Canada has been too much praised on the one hand, it has also
been unnecessarily cried down by some who are anxious to conceal their
want of industry, and endeavour to shift from themselves to the country
the cause of their return to Britain. Many people emigrate to America
who ought to have remained at home, having been inflated by the
representations of others and their own imaginations. I have often heard
such characters rail against the province; and, on pressing one of them
for the reason of his dislike, was answered, “It could not afford a
well-cooked beef-steak.” They often lounge about villages, and are a
moral pest. Like the fox who lost his tail, they are anxious to involve
others in disgrace with themselves; and as most emigrants experience a
few weeks’ despondency on first arriving in the country, the society of
the idle and discontented ought to be avoided.
A person will find considerable difficulty in choosing a lot of land in
Canada. Nine-tenths of the population are interested, directly or
indirectly, in the sale of land. The accounts he will receive are more
likely to mislead than instruct him; and, if possible, he ought to rely
on his own judgment in purchasing. When he has decided on the
neighbourhood in which he would like to reside, let him look at all the
properties for sale, and take the best bargain. Most of the small
landowners, being deeply indebted, are anxious to sell partially cleared
estates for ready money; and more favourable terms will be obtained from
them than the crown, Canada Company, or extensive proprietors.
The wheat of Upper Canada is sown in autumn, and greatly superior in
quality to the wheat of the lower province. It embraces, however, a
variety of climates, and the quality of wheat improves as the southern
boundary is ascended. In Montreal market, the wheat of the upper
province sells from 10 to 20 per cent higher than the wheat of the
neighbourhood, and what is grown in the extreme west is of most value.
The expense of transport from the upper to the lower province is not yet
reduced to proper terms, especially from remote quarters. But, in a
general view, the improved quality of the wheat may be regarded as
covering the expense of sending it by water to Montreal, while the
climate will produce a greater quantity than the lower province. This
may perhaps hold good as far west as the Thames, but on passing that
river to the north, both the climate and distance of transport will
operate in reducing the value of wheat.
Upper Canada possesses many advantages to the farmer over the lower
province. The winter being of shorter duration and less severe, he has
more time to prepare the soil. A greater variety of plants can be
cultivated, and all of them will attain greater perfection. Animals have
a longer summer to fatten, and a shorter winter to pine. Less dry fodder
is required for them, and it is more easily obtained. Succulent food
might be grown and preserved with greater ease. Still, Upper Canada is
not likely soon to become a stock country, both from the limited cleared
surface, and severity of winter. Indian corn, too, is not easily grown,
except in the southern parts, and it seems to be the chief winter
support of animals in America, where labour is high compared with
produce.
Notwithstanding labour is high and prices low in Upper Canada, capital
and labour may be better employed in cultivation than in the lower
province, with exception of the vicinity of Montreal, from the great
assistance nature affords. But much capital cannot at present be
employed in the cultivation or improvement of land, and perhaps no
portion will yield profit without active personal superintendence and
assistance.
A British farmer with cleared land would obtain labour to hire in almost
any part of the country, and be enabled to afford good wages from the
produce. In many situations, however, he would find difficulty in
obtaining a cash price, which is at present one of the greatest
drawbacks to the country. Barter is often had recourse to, and the
farmer being generally indebted to storekeepers, they make their own
terms with him, and prey on his vitals. This state of things is,
however, soon likely to change from competition; in the meantime, the
needy former is sadly imposed on. Labour cannot be divided as in
Britain, and cultivation must be carried on in a rude manner. The
farmer, however, could find no difficulty in maintaining himself by his
own exertions. With two days’ labour in the week on an average
throughout the season, he may lead a listless life, without domestic
comfort, or care, or anxiety of any kind, and dream of future riches
till the close of his existence. With industry, comforts, happiness, and
wealth, would be his portion. With forest land the British farmer would
be sacrificed, unless in the prime of youth. In chopping, logging, and
burning timber, he could not for a time render much assistance, and his
previous knowledge would be of little avail. The plough could not be
used for seven or eight years. Cultivating merely with the harrow, and
mowing with the cradle-scythe amongst blackened stumps, would ill accord
with his former habits. In such pursuits he would not, in all
probability, find happiness or wealth. The young man of ardour and
perseverance, whose habits could be changed, is differently situated,
and he may enter the forest with every prospect of success. It is the
returns from clearing forest land being distant, though certain, which
gives youth great advantage over age, independent of his moral pliancy
and physical strength.
The agricultural labourer of Upper Canada finds employment at good
nominal wages during summer, but, instead of getting money, he is served
with an order on a neighbouring store, from which he obtains goods to
the amount, 20 or 30 per cent above real value. In winter his wages are
reduced nearly one-half, or he engages in the clearing of forest, on
terms of distant payment, and in the interim subsists on store credit.
From seldom being paid in money, he sees the hopelessness of raising
himself by purchasing land, and the disappointment often leads to
drunkenness. At present, it appears to me doubtful if the British
agricultural labourer of middle age would greatly better his condition
by removing to Upper Canada. It is certain he would obtain more of the
good things of life at a sacrifice of some little comfort, and unless he
has strong attraction to the country, it is scarcely worth his while to
make the change.
It has often been said manufacturers and artisans of all kinds make
better Canadian farmers than agriculturists do. This seems to me part of
the deception which has been played off on the people of Britain.
Knowledge is power in all things, and however prejudiced agriculturists
may be, their acquaintance with the time and mode of sowing, harvesting,
and many etceteras, must give them advantages over other classes. I can
conceive few situations more trying than a person without capital,
totally unacquainted with farming, placed in the midst of a forest to
live by his own exertions.
The man without capital ought to consider well before engaging with
forest land, however cheap and advantageous the terms may appear. Almost
all who do so can scarcely avoid being ruined, if interest is to be paid
on the stipulated price. At page 363, I have supposed a new settler in
the forest to have thirty acres in crop the fourth year. But when all
things are taken into consideration, it is found that a settler,
unaccustomed to chop wood, does not generally clear more than six acres
in a year, and attend to other necessary things. Under these
circumstances, it will be impossible for him to spare a fraction of
money to pay interest or principal for the first five or six years. This
is rendered evident also by the consideration, that the first crop of
wheat does not, by the most favourable calculation, even pay the expense
of clearing the forest and cultivating the soil. It is therefore
demonstrated, that clearing forest is at first unprofitable to a person
without capital, if he had the land for nothing, and that every acre
which he clears is at an immediate loss. The cleared land, however,
continues productive, and would ultimately reward him, if there was no
principal or interest to pay. By suffering privations, he may wait like
the capitalist for distant returns, which, on arriving, would be paid to
the real proprietor of the land; and like an over-rented East Lothian
farmer, he would not receive the fruits of his own labour. It is
overlooking the difficulties of first settlement, which has involved
half the recent settlers inextricably in debt, given the storekeeper
such influence over the farmer, and prevented the labourer from
obtaining cash wages.
In almost all parts of the country, landowners or their agents will urge
people to settle on land, well knowing that every yard which is cleared
of trees will ultimately become valuable to the estate, although the
settler may be ruined by his engagement. Is it from philanthropic or
interested motives the puffs regarding Upper Canada have been
circulated? The unthinking poor too often become the dupes of the
designing in all parts of the world.
America has been emphatically styled “the poor man’s country;” but Upper
Canada does not now merit such a title. The system of store pay, which
is so general in the province, operates against the poor man, and does
not affect the rich. The system of selling land in large lots on credit
has a similar effect; while the late rise in the value of land seems to
me to be chiefly destructive to the poor man’s hopes, by diminishing the
demand for labour, and increasing his difficulty of purchasing land.
In stating my belief that the middle-aged agricultural labourer of
Britain need not change his residence to Upper Canada, I supposed him to
be without capital, having constant employment, and living in some
degree of comfort at home. The chance of such a person becoming an
independent landowner is small, with irregular employment and store pay.
The case of the rural inhabitants in many parts of the Highlands of
Scotland and Ireland is, however, different, and they would find their
condition improved by a change of residence. The sober, the prudent, and
the industrious of any country will, however, succeed in Upper Canada,
if they can laugh at the hardships of first settlement, and with
persevering industry look forward to be ultimately rewarded. It seems to
me to be a country chiefly for the young, and those seeking to provide
for a family.
Of the unagricultural population of Upper Canada, and their prospects, I
am not well qualified to speak. Clergymen, lawyers, and doctors, seem
not to be much cared for by the inhabitants, and but indifferently
rewarded. Bricklayers find ready employment. Stone-masons are not
wanted. Joiners, who can put a great deal of rough work through their
hands, are in constant demand at higher wages than other tradesmen, with
the advantage of employment in winter. Tailors, shoemakers, and
blacksmiths, have good wages in towns and villages. When they commence
business on their own account in the country, the thinness of the
agricultural population does not always furnish regular employment, and
their poverty renders cash difficult to be had. In remote parts of the
country, the traffic is carried on chiefly in barter, and many tradesmen
in such situations almost never finger money.
The merchants and storekeepers are said to be the most wealthy and
influential people in the province, and owe the position they have
attained to the situation and character of the inhabitants. The settlers
being thinly scattered over an immense and almost inaccessible
territory, are necessarily unacquainted with traffic and the price of
commodities. Their limited produce does not spur them into active
exertion to dispose of it; and the state of the roads only admitting of
transport for a part of the year, confines the time of sale to the
winter months. During this season, the St Lawrence, which is the only
channel of trade, being closed by ice, limits the number of merchants,
and drives all out of the market but capitalists. The necessities of
farmers do not enable them to hold produce from year to year, and they
appear to be at the mercy of the merchants, who obtain thousands and
tens of thousands of bushels of wheat, at the head of Lake Ontario, in
exchange for shoes and other necessaries, without a fraction of cash
being paid on either side. The inland storekeeper has still greater
advantages over the farmer, and their profits are said to be excessive;
300 per cent on dry goods having been currently obtained at one time.
The merchant and storekeeper is, however, distant from the markets of
Britain, which regulates the price of Canadian wheat; and the navigation
of the St Lawrence, and transport of goods, are so expensive, that
profits may not be so great as is reported. Of their influence in the
country, there is, however, no doubt; and that it arises from the
pecuniary difficulties of landowners is universally admitted, who, in
numerous instances, are irretrievably burdened with debt.
The first settlers, at the close of the war with the colonies, being at
too great a distance to admit of much intercourse with each other, and
having no outlet for their produce, soon sunk into listless inactivity.
Many Germans and Dutch afterwards followed, who commonly settled near
each other, and although quiet and industrious people, were altogether
without enterprise. The greater portion of British emigrants, who first
settled in the province, having little capital or education, and
obtaining grants of forest in isolated situations, made small progress
in a mode of farming so new to them. Having been nurtured in poverty,
they had few wants and were not ambitious to improve their condition.
From a people so situated, and composed of such materials, little could
be expected. Individuals connected with government seem to have been
more solicitous about their own than the people’s welfare, and little
was done to call forth the resources of the country, or to rouse the
slumbering energies of the inhabitants. The people, however, formed good
subjects for active traders, who still gather a plentiful harvest. How
long this state of things may last with traders will depend on
competition. Their profits will fall with the opening of communication
throughout the country, but capital employed in trade is likely to yield
a good return, so long as the necessities of the agricultural population
continue urgent.
Every inhabitant of Britain, contemplating the commencement of trade in
Upper Canada, must be prepared to do so in a new mode, and, while he
views high profits, he ought not to lose sight of transacting business
on a limited scale, and in an expensive and disagreeable manner.
If the early inhabitants of Upper Canada sunk into indolence, some of
the succeeding settlers were ill fitted to improve them, being blended
with the scum and refuse of mankind. For many years the bankrupts in
character and fortune, the poor, the idle, and the dissipated, departed
from Britain. From the United States the knavish whites, and the runaway
blacks found shelter, and after having cheated the Canadians again set
off. Such a population receiving grants of forest, separated from each
other by clergy reserves and large absentee estates, could not be
expected to exert themselves amidst the difficulties of first
settlement. People of enterprise, who reached the province, soon made a
fortune and retired again.
I found some of the oldest settlers treading out their wheat crop with
horses; living in miserable houses, and without a particle of sugar to
sweeten their tea. This state of things arose from laziness, their
possessions being large, their time unoccupied, and the juice of the
maple might have been collected a few yards from their residence for the
making of sugar.
At the time of my visit nine-tenths of the hotel-keepers and
stage-drivers, and most of the active business people, had originally
come from the United States. Every horse and ox of size or fatness could
be traced to have come from the same territory, and the Canadians appear
to me to be much indebted to the people of the United States for any
activity and refinement that is to be met with in the province.
The first settlers, the people of business, and almost all travellers
for pleasure or health, having come from the United States, their
manners and customs have been impressed on the inhabitants of Upper
Canada, and I do not think the large influx of British emigrants which
has taken place of late years will efface them. I found much less
refinement than in the lower province or in the United States, while the
coarse manners of the people, and their habits of intemperance, were so
prominent, that I heard more oaths and witnessed more drunk people the
first few days I was in Canada, than I had met with during my previous
wanderings in the States. I must do Upper Canada, however, the justice
to say, that such characters appeared to be late importations from
Britain and Ireland, and I was sorry to observe intoxication was by no
means confined to the lowest class of emigrants.
Knowing that a great deal of moral worth, physical energy, and capital,
have lately flowed into Canada, I have no doubt of time producing an
important change in the state of the country and people. Indeed, hewing
down the forest may be termed mortgaging labour to nature, whose
generous returns accumulate like compound interest, and I look on Upper
Canada as the germ of a numerously inhabited and wealthy state. Nothing
but misgovernment can prevent such a consummation. A number of human
beings have, however, been most improperly seduced into the province of
late years, and at present I regard Upper Canada as a wretched, an
immoral, and a misgoverned country.
I found many of the Canadians filled with inveterate prejudice against
the inhabitants of the United States, whom they regarded as a band of
cheating and lying democrats. Some excuse might have been found for this
feeling, had it alone existed amongst the first settlers, who suffered
during the late war; but the greatest degree of inveteracy was evinced
by persons lately from Britain, whose conduct, in the intercourse of the
world, had not been altogether blameless at home. The prosperity of the
people of the United States seems to excite the envy of the Canadians.
The same feeling does not exist in the State of New York towards the
Canadians, who are there considered indolent and dissipated.
The constitution of Upper Canada is modelled after the British one, and
there is a council appointed for life by his Britannic Majesty on
certain conditions. The House of Assembly is chosen by voters,
twenty-one years of age, British subjects, and possessed of 40s.
freehold for a county election, and L.5 for a town qualification. The
province possesses the power of taxing itself, and the impositions are
as little felt as in any country in the world.
There is a general opinion in Britain that Canada is an excellent
sporting country, and almost every young emigrant carries out a gun with
him to shoot game. Few people however go in quest of it, the winters
being so severe, and food so scarce, that game cannot exist in numbers.
In every situation deer is difficult to be had, and I only met with one
deer-shooter in my travels. The turkey is found only in the western
district in limited numbers. Quails are more plentiful, and confined to
the west. There are two kinds of pheasants throughout Canada, and not
plentiful any where but in the west. The ruffed grouse or prairie hen
has never been found in the country. Ducks are particularly numerous in
autumn, and at certain seasons so are woodcocks. I have seen more game
in half-an-hour in Scotland than I saw in all my wanderings in Canada,
and there is no part where good shooting can be obtained but near the
River Detroit.
CHAPTER VI.
_United States—Climate—Diseases—Productions—Agriculture east of the
Alleghany Mountains—Agriculture west of the Mountains—Wages—Choice
of Residence—Progress of Wealth—Wages of the United States and the
Canadas—Profits of Capital._
The territory of the United States is situated between 24, 27, and 49°
north latitude, and 10° east, to 54° west longitude from Washington. Its
mean breadth from north to south is about 830 miles, and mean length
from east to west, 2500 miles. The area embraces 2,076,410 square miles,
or 1,328,902,400 acres, consisting of the following states and
territories: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Florida, and
the Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri, North-west and Western territories.
A territory differs from a state in not sending members to Congress; and
the President of the United States, with consent of the senate, appoints
the executive officers. Congress has power to make general laws in the
territories, which become states on containing a sufficient population.
Many people in Britain have difficulty in forming a conception of the
extent of the United States, and imagine each state something like the
size of the counties in their own country. But some of the divisions
into which the territory is separated are much larger than the whole
island of Great Britain. The United States must therefore be considered
a union of countries—each state, having its own government and laws, is
divided into counties, which are subdivided into townships.
Having travelled over only a small portion of the United States
territory, lying between 37° and 45° north latitude, embracing the
states of New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, and the territory of Michigan, my remarks shall be
confined to this region, which might, with propriety, be divided into
the eastern, middle, and western states, if particular consideration was
intended to be given it.
The climate of that portion of the United States which I travelled over
participates of the general character of the continent, having the
extremes of heat and cold. The length of winter will of course vary with
the latitude, which, in the north, will be nearly six months, and in the
southern part, about six weeks.
This region is intersected by the Alleghany mountains, commencing in the
state of Maine, and passing through New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,
dividing the country longitudinally. Some parts of this range is of
considerable height—Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, being 6634 feet
above the level of the sea. Monadnock, in the south-west corner of New
Hampshire, was the most elevated point which I was near, being 3254 feet
in height, and, with the exception of the falls of the Niagara, the only
truly sublime object I saw in America. The Alleghany range varies in
breadth at different places. Across the mountains in New Hampshire is
about 120 miles—in New York, about 150 miles, and in Pennsylvania, 130
miles. In such situations, climate will be affected by altitude as well
as latitude.
In the country east of the Alleghanies, north-east winds prevail for a
considerable part of the year, especially in the New England states,
where they are cold and raw to human feeling in the spring months. To
the west of the Alleghanies, the most prevalent wind is from the
south-west, and is mild in temperature. The winds blowing chiefly from
different directions, on opposite sides of the mountains, have been
ingeniously accounted for by Volney and other writers, and thought to be
connected with the trade winds, gulf stream, a cold current of air from
Davis’ Straits, and the configuration of the country. There seems to be
an opinion amongst the writers on this subject, that the climate of the
west is two or three degrees milder than the east, under the same
parallel of latitude—the winters of the latter being more severe, and
the summers of the former cooler. Judging from human feeling, this may
perhaps appear to be the case from the influence of the sea air, in the
country bounded by the Atlantic, but the thermometer observations which
have been published seem to make the temperature nearly alike at the
same altitude on both sides of the Alleghanies. The meteorology of the
United States has not, however, been properly investigated, and the most
important difference to the farmer, in the climate of the two countries,
is a deeper fall of snow in the east than in the west, and a steadier
winter.
To the east of the Alleghany mountains, where north-east winds prevail
in spring, consumption is a frequent complaint with the human race, and
more especially near the sea-coast, the air being particularly keen at
certain seasons. This disease is most frequent in the New England
states, where the cold and dampness of the north-east wind is strongly
felt. The inhabitants of New England have not that dark seered
complexion so common in other parts of the Union, many of them closely
resembling the people of Britain. It is probable the florid complexion
of the people, and their proneness to consumption, arise from the
dampness of the climate. To the west of the Alleghanies, the most common
complaint is bilious fever, in every variety of type, passing by the
names of “ague,” “chill and fever,” and many etceteras. Fever is
essentially a disease of the country, and seems connected with the
luxuriance and decay of natural vegetation. In every part of inhabited
America, fever, originating from this cause, must be frequent, and will
be more severe towards the south, as the heat and length of summer
increase. It is common on the banks of rivers and on the prairies, from
exhalations produced by the rays of the sun; and on first clearing wood
lands, the same effects are produced. With the progress of cultivation,
fever is likely to abate, and I have no doubt the fatality of the
disease in this region is at present heightened by the quantities of
animal food consumed by the inhabitants. On both sides of the
Alleghanies, inflammatory complaints, arising from sudden transitions of
temperature, are common. There is no reason, however, to imagine this
part of America more unhealthy than the Canadas, unless the prevalence
of north-east winds in the east, and the want of cultivation in the
west, are more unfavourable than a severe and steady winter.
The agricultural productions are the same as what have been noticed as
the growth of the Canadas. A portion of this country may, however, be
termed the region of Indian corn, which grows with uncommon luxuriance,
and is one of the most important plants in American farming. Mr John
Taylor of Virginia called it the “meal, meadow, and manure” of the farm,
and it well merits his emphatic description. It is used as human food in
a variety of forms; in maintaining and fattening animals during winter
it far surpasses every agricultural product, and affords a great
quantity of materials for manure. When soil and climate are adapted to
its growth, it furnishes more nourishment for man and beast on a given
space, and with less labour, than any other plant. It is the only means
of fattening animals during winter in remote parts of the country, and,
under present circumstances, no district which I visited in course of my
tour can become eminent in breeding and fattening live stock, which is
not congenial to the growth of Indian corn. It does not seem to be
cultivated with success beyond 43° north latitude, and an agricultural
emigrant, who values the necessaries of life, ought only to settle where
this plant can be successfully grown.
Indian corn seems to differ from most other agricultural plants, by
growing vigorously for a succession of years on certain soils without an
application of manure. There is much evidence to establish this fact in
the Western United States, and amongst the Indians in Upper Canada. I
saw it growing luxuriantly on soft prairie soil in Ohio, which farmers
assured me could not produce a wheat crop without an application of
manure. It is this peculiarity of Indian corn which has given rise to
some exaggerated accounts of the fertility of American soil, by
producing so many crops without manure. In some parts of the country,
Indian corn seems to be like an indigenous plant, and its growth for a
succession of years is perhaps no greater test of fertility of soil than
grass is in Britain.
The soil on the eastern side of the Alleghanies is generally of an
inferior description, with exception of the lands on the banks of
rivers. The cleared lands have been long cropped under the robbing
system, and are far from being productive. The whole of the land that is
worth occupying is owned by private individuals, although a great
portion of it is covered with forest; and I was frequently told, that in
all situations near a village, or which had ready access to
water-carriage, forest land was more valuable than what had been
cleared, fuel having became so dear of late years. Much of the land
covered with wood is not worth cultivating, and should the forest be
removed for fuel, it is likely to remain in pasturage or be suffered to
produce trees again. The price of farms varies from L.5 to L.30 sterling
per acre, according to quality of soil, buildings, and situation. Labour
can at all times be had, and every description of produce finds a ready
market. Manures are chiefly employed in growing vegetables, and can be
bought from the stablers of New York at 7d. sterling a cart-load,
similar in shape and size to the carts used in Scotland. Market
gardening is the most profitable department of farming, and the growing
of grass ranks next.
Notwithstanding the good markets, command of labour, and low price of
manure, the cultivation of grain in this part of the country is attended
with little profit, which circumstance, joined to a grass crop being
more lucrative, illustrates the parts nature and man perform in the
production of farm produce which has been so often alluded to. And a
Briton who has been accustomed to pay a high rent will be very apt to
overlook, on first reaching America, many circumstances affecting the
profits of farming.
Land which has been impoverished by a long succession of crops, under
the robbing system, will not yield much grain without a plentiful supply
of manure, which the rate of labour may frequently prevent being applied
without incurring loss. Suppose an acre of wheat to yield with a
moderate application of manure twenty-four bushels of wheat per acre,
which is worth $1 per bushel. The cost of producing the crop, including
twice ploughing, harrowing, seed, sowing, harvesting, and carrying home,
thrashing, dressing, and marketing, will amount to $14, leaving only
$10, or L.2, 2s. 6d., to meet the interest of capital employed in the
purchase and cultivation of the land, taxes, professional profit, and
the purchase and application of manure. If the purchase money of the
land and capital invested in cultivation amount to $60 per acre, the
interest may be taken at $4, leaving only $6, or L.1, 5s. 6d. sterling,
for taxes and manure. The cost of manure is scarcely worth estimating,
but the expense of its carriage and application are so high as often to
forbid its use. On the assumed data there will only remain about 18s.
sterling per acre to meet the carriage and spreading of manure. The
expense of labour is strikingly exhibited in contrast with the value of
the crop. The wages of a labourer may be stated at seventy-five cents
per day, and the value of an acre of wheat would employ a man about
thirty-two days. In Britain a wheat crop of similar productiveness, at
ordinary prices and rates of labour, would employ a man between eighty
and ninety days. The same mode of management is obviously not suited to
both countries.
In grass husbandry human labour is but little employed, nature being the
chief agent of production, and hence it is remunerating. The difficulty
of transporting certain kinds of grass produce from a distance, such as
hay and fresh dairy produce, keeps up the price of these commodities,
but the small quantity of labour bestowed on their production is the
chief cause of their profitableness.
A man with capital may purchase a farm to the east of the Alleghany
range, and occupy it with a prospect of having a good return for the
capital invested, if he possess prudence and industry. He must not,
however, lavish capital on fanciful improvements, or employ much labour
on finical operations. Wages are so high that he will require to
calculate the value of every day’s labour, and render the closest
personal superintendence, and perhaps also assistance. Unless this is
done farming will be unprofitable, as a great many of the workmen are
idle and unsteady. Farming cannot, however, be pursued on a large scale
with a prospect of success, from the difficulty of superintending the
operations and forming a proper division of labour with unskilful and
untractable workmen. There is, however, an excellent field for prudent
skill and industry near all towns. In short, science seems scarcely to
have been thought of in American farming, and a cautious application of
it in draining and other improvements, in particular situations, would
be remunerating.
Land may be rented in many parts of the country on fair terms, more
especially near towns. In such situations many British emigrants
successfully pursue market gardening and dairy husbandry. Native
Americans prefer occupying land of their own to paying rent for the use
of a farm belonging to others.
The labouring emigrant does not readily find agricultural employment on
the east coast, from the country being thickly settled, and the constant
influx of emigrants without funds to support them. He should, therefore,
lose no time in pushing back into the country, where wages are higher
compared with the price of the necessaries of life and land, and where
information necessary to a settler on cheap land, can alone be acquired.
The soil on the western side of the Alleghanies is generally much
superior to the eastern, although it is to be found of all descriptions
and degrees of fertility. It has not been very long cropped, and the
natural composition of a great portion of it will, under any
circumstances, render it productive of wheat and Indian corn. Almost all
the land in the eastern part of this district is owned by private
individuals, but much of it remains uncleared of forest. Towards the
west the greater part of the land is held by the United States
government, and costs $1¼ per acre. In every part of the country forest
or improved land may be purchased, and the price is governed by local
situation and other circumstances. Labour can generally be had, except
in the extreme west. Farm produce is in constant demand, and prices are
regulated by the markets of the towns on the east coast and New Orleans,
to all of which there is access by rivers, canals, or railroads. Prices
may, therefore, at all times be considered lower than the markets on the
east by the expense of transport. Manures are very seldom used except in
the neighbourhood of large towns, where the demand for vegetables and
shortness of carriage render it worthy of the farmer’s attention.
The money wages of labour may be stated to be nearly the same from the
east to the extreme west, but any difference that exists is towards a
rise in the west. In the same direction a decline in the price of
produce takes place. Therefore, as the distance from the markets on the
coast increases, the farmer pays a greater share of produce to the
labourer, and must be remunerated either by the low price of land or its
natural fertility. Labourers are of a more unsatisfactory description
than in the east, land being so cheap that every prudent man is enabled
to purchase a farm for himself in the course of a year or two, and it is
only the imprudent who continue labourers. The character of the workmen
renders labour dearer than is at first apparent.
The country to the west of the Alleghanies is of such extent, and
gradually increasing in distance from the seaport towns which regulate
the price of the land produce, that farms of equal quality of soil vary
from 5s. 4d. to L.12 sterling per acre.
A person possessed of capital may purchase a farm in many situations
with advantage. But the exercise of prudence and industry in choice of
situation and management is particularly called for. The price of
produce is so low compared with labour, that only a small portion of
capital and labour can be profitably applied to the cultivation of the
soil. In almost every instance where cultivation is followed personal
assistance will be necessary to obtain profit. It has already been
remarked, that money wages in the west are nearly the same as in the
east, and as hired men are generally boarded, the western employer has
some advantage from the cheapness of provisions. Supposing an acre of
ground without an application of manure yields twenty bushels of wheat,
which sells at 50 cents per bushel, and a labourer gets $120 a-year with
board, the value of an acre of wheat will employ a man twenty-six days
without including board. To the east of the Alleghanies the value of an
acre of wheat was stated to pay the wages of a hired man about
thirty-two days, including board. In the one case, however, manure is
supposed to have been applied, and in the other it had not. But in many
parts of the west, wheat generally sells considerably lower than 50
cents a-bushel, and in such situations a hired labourer either obtains a
greater share of the produce, or the fertility of the soil is greater.
In Sangamon county, in the state of Illinois, the soil of which is very
fertile, the price of wheat at Springfield was 37½ cents when I was
there. Supposing wheat to yield twenty-five bushels per acre, its value
would employ a labourer about twenty-five days. In every situation the
hiring of agricultural labour ought to be determined by calculation. If
the former obtains a fair profit from the outlay of capital he need not
repine at the wages of the labourer, however high they may be.
An emigrant will not always find agricultural employment to the west of
the Alleghanies from the low price of farm produce; but there is always
a demand for labour in towns and villages, at high wages, and he need
not remain idle if he is disposed to work. An industrious and sober man
must rapidly accumulate wealth by working for hire, and many perhaps err
by purchasing land instead of continuing to work under the direction of
others. On leaving New York, a gardener, who was working at Haddington
when I left Scotland, gave me ten pounds sterling, which he had saved
since his arrival in America, to enable his wife and family to reach
him. A young man, whom I had often employed at spade-work on Mungoswells
farm, at 1s. 6d. a-day without board, was earning, by sawing stones at
Cincinnati, 4s. 3d. a-day with board.
A person cannot purchase and farm land to the east of the Alleghanies
without possessing a considerable portion of capital; and to the west of
the mountains land is not likely to be cultivated with profit without
personal labour. The luxuries of life being prepared in the east, to
meet an extensive demand, are cheaper than in the west by the expense of
transport from one market to the other. It is the reverse with the
necessaries of life; and the agricultural emigrant ought to be guided in
his choice of residence on either side of the Alleghanies by his habits,
finances, and wants.
All wealth, according to the views I have endeavoured to establish,
being the result of nature and labour, the riches of a community must be
regulated by the soil and climate of the country, and the skill and
industry of the inhabitants. The soil and climate of two countries being
equal, the most skilful and industrious people will be the
wealthiest—with equal skill and industry the inhabitants of the country
most favoured by nature will become the richest. Under a parity of
circumstances, with regard to nature and inhabitants, the oldest nation
will be the wealthiest, and the progress of new countries in wealth will
depend on the facilities of cultivation—a forest-covered surface
yielding wealth slower than one clothed with grass. The ratio of extent
of territory to the inhabitants of new countries also affects the
progress of wealth. With a limited surface capital will rapidly
increase, from the cheapness and division of labour that will
necessarily ensue, and wealth will be unequally distributed amongst the
inhabitants. With an extensive surface capital will accumulate slowly,
and all the inhabitants will enjoy an ample share of the necessaries of
life, without possessing much tangible capital.
The first settlers in this portion of the United States had to struggle
with severe privations. Besides being engaged in warfare with the
natives, they settled in insulated situations in the midst of a densely
wooded surface, without experience as to the mode of rendering it
fruitful, or possessing facilities of communication. They were unable to
subsist by their labour, and many perished for want of food. But on
every portion of cleared surface nature continued productive, and her
exertions being aided by new skill and industry, wealth appeared in the
progress of time. There being no rent, and scarcely a burden of any kind
to pay, the inhabitants reaped the combined fruits of their own and
nature’s labour without division. Individuals had as much land as they
chose to cultivate; and having every inducement to render it productive,
they rewarded labour with liberal wages. The abundance of land induced
labourers to turn landholders, and reward others with high wages, who
likewise became landholders. Thus there was a constant progression in
society, by the prudent and industrious labourers rising into wealth,
and receding from the first point of settlement on becoming landholders.
These movements continue up to the present time with the existing
cause—abundance and cheapness of land, to which many of the
peculiarities of the country and its inhabitants may be traced.
Good land being sold by the United States government at $1¼ per acre,
people will not permanently hire themselves for a less reward than can
be obtained by cultivating on their own account. When competition
depresses wages, operatives commence farming, and wages rise. Thus the
wages of labour are regulated by the profits of farming, and will
continue to be so until all the good land is occupied.
The profits of farming do not regulate the wages of labour in the
Canadas, because land is there held by monopolists, or sold at a
monopoly price. And the late rise in the price of land in Upper Canada
not only renders the ultimate prospect of labourers becoming landholders
more distant, but also lowers the wages of operatives through
competition, by tending to confine them to their professions. But
supposing land to be equally abundant and cheap in the Canadas and
United States, and the wages of labour to be regulated in both countries
by the profits of farming, wages would necessarily be higher in the
United States, from possessing superiority of climate. Nature performs
more towards the manufacture of agricultural produce in the United
States than in the Canadas, and the reward of industry, which is divided
between the landholder and labourer, is consequently greater.
This view of the wages of labour in the different parts of North America
which I visited, is supported by facts, wages being generally
considerably higher in the United States than in the Canadas. During the
summer of 1833 the carpenters of New York struck work when getting 5s.
sterling per day, and by doing so obtained 6s. per day. The future
prospects of operatives appear to be good, a vast portion of the best
land of the country being still unoccupied, a subject which will be
afterwards noticed.
The profits of capital employed in farming do not seem to affect the
profits of capital invested in other fields of production. Indeed, the
high price of labour, and the difficulty of combining systematically and
giving proper effect to agricultural labour in most parts of the United
States, render the employment of much capital in farming unprofitable.
The high price of labour affects the investment of capital in other
channels, and it will be found difficult to manage a large fortune
safely and profitably. On this account wealth is seldom accumulated in
large masses, while almost all the inhabitants have it in their power to
acquire a competency. The customs of the people are favourable to this
degree of wealth—a father’s property being generally equally divided at
death amongst his children. Capital, however, in many cases, will enter
into competition with labour, and its profits in the United States,
where the fields of production are so extensive, and its inhabitants so
enterprising, cannot be low for many generations to come.
CHAPTER VII.
_Wealth and refinement of different parts—Writers on American
Manners—Plainness—Civility—New England Character—Unfair
dealing—Emigrant’s Situation and Character—Government—United States
and Upper Canada._
The comparative wealth and refinement of the eastern parts of the United
States, arises from the annual savings of the combined exertions of
nature and industry having had time to accumulate and affect the
inhabitants; and the gradual falling off in these attributes, which
takes place towards the west, is owing to most of the settlers having
originally been operatives in the east, and not having had time to
accumulate wealth, or adopt refinements.
Although I did not often witness the domestic manners of the Americans,
my opportunities of meeting the inhabitants of the United States in
public were frequent, and the impressions imbibed during my intercourse
with them were different from what the accounts of others led me to
expect. Many travellers who have written on the subject were perhaps ill
qualified to form a just estimate of American manners and character,
from the sphere of society in which they themselves had previously
moved. No scion nor associate of British aristocracy, who has not been
brought into familiar intercourse with the middling and lower orders of
his own countrymen, is likely to do justice to the Americans, and the
tenor of many of the remarks which have been given to the world on the
subject is evidence of the writers never having before associated with
the class of people to whom they allude. The inhabitants of Britain, in
private and public life, being divided into grades, some individuals are
altogether unacquainted with the manners and customs of the classes
below them. And as Englishmen of high pretensions and refinement, on
reaching America, mingle on terms of equality at public tables and in
conveyances with the commonest operatives, they feel disgusted with the
manners of the people around them, without considering they belong to a
different class from their own associates at home. In Britain, a person
of rank is generally regarded with respect by the classes below him. In
the United States, rank seldom meets with or expects deference from the
people, and the humblest citizen familiarly enters into conversation
with every individual who addresses him. This self-possession of the
Americans is often mistaken for forwardness, and their unembarrassed
conversation for insolence. In Britain, the different classes of
population generally remain distinct, and many of their excesses are hid
from common gaze. In most parts of the United States, the bar-rooms of
hotels form the only scenes of tippling, and, being at all times open to
the public, a traveller is apt to consider the people more dissipated
than they really are. Were a gentlemanly foreigner to meet the lowest
class of the people of England at table, and associate with them in
their haunts of vice, his adventures would form a high-coloured picture
of British manners and society.
The strictures of British writers on the manners of the people of the
United States seem to have created a strong prejudice in the minds of
emigrants of every description. In the month of May last, a person who
had long followed the trade of a country wright in his native village,
situated in East Lothian, introduced himself, and asked my opinion
regarding the best place of settlement for himself and family in
America. He had made up his mind to emigrate, and left me in the
determination of residing in the United States. I have just learned,
however, that he keeps a spirit store in the village of Niagara, Upper
Canada, and assigned as a reason for leaving the States, that he could
not endure the manners of the people. The conduct of this Scottish clown
is a good satire on the remarks of such refined travellers as Trollope,
Hamilton, &c.
On first reaching the United States, the plainness of the people’s
manners appeared remarkable. In all classes there was a total absence of
grimace and corporeal token of respect, with corresponding sounds of
address, an expression of obligation or thankfulness seldom being heard.
In courteousness the inhabitants appear as far behind the British as the
French exceed them. But, on the other hand, vulgarity, rudeness, or
insolence, is almost never met with in the humblest walks of life.
Mechanics and storekeepers ride in the same vehicle, and sit down at the
same table, with the most polished members of society; all seem desirous
of behaving well to each other, a rude or indelicate remark never being
made, nor a disgusting practice indulged in. On one occasion only I met
with revolting behaviour, at the table of the Washington hotel, during
my first residence at New York. On my second visit, I found the
individual still an inmate of the house, in which he had lodged for
fourteen years. He was an eccentric character, and originally from
England.
A general propriety of deportment and softness of manner pervades the
lower classes, and that coarseness, which is sometimes met with in
Britain, does not appear to exist in the United States; but certain
circles of society in Britain seem to have a higher polish than what is
to be met with in America, and perhaps the general standard of manners
of both countries is not widely different. The lower orders of the
United States are, however, beyond all question, greatly superior in
refinement and intelligence to the lower orders of Britain.
The many classes into which society is divided in Britain, and the
privileges assigned them by the laws and customs of the country, are so
distinct, that some individuals, who are jealous of their dignity,
endeavour to repulse all beneath them. On the other hand, some people
seek distinction by rudeness towards others. And amidst such jarring
elements the poor sometimes become servile and debased, the rich
contemptuous and overbearing. In America, every individual seems
possessed of self-respect, and in the intercourse of life, arrogance is
seldom assumed, and never submitted to. Worth is duly appreciated, and
hollow pretension exposed.
The civility of all classes in the United States is so universal, that
during my intercourse with the inhabitants, I scarcely experienced an
indication of insolence, and never observed that democratic sauciness
which I was taught to expect amongst the lower orders. Every individual
feels that he is independent, and never alludes to the subject. The case
is, however, different in Canada, where some British emigrants seldom
let an opportunity escape of telling a well-dressed person, that “this
is a free country, and that he does not care a * * * * for any man.” The
emancipated bondsman alone boasts of being free from fetters. A
foreigner, however, who arrogates to himself superiority in the States,
will be despised by the meanest of the people, and his money will
neither purchase their attention nor services. The United States which I
visited, seem to me an excellent place for teaching an overweening
person a due estimate of himself and his fellow-mortals. Twelve months’
intercourse with the people would greatly improve the fagged and fagging
youthful aristocracy of Britain. Their haughtiness of demeanour, and
acerbity and impatience of temper would be changed, and they would
return home with a just sense of the place they occupy in the world, and
qualified to discharge the important duties they owe society. Every
Briton who has mingled with the people for any length of time, and
practised self-examination, will testify to the truth of my remarks.
Whatever may be the state of manners and customs in the United States,
the foppish need not desert Britain in search of happiness in the New
World, for there such persons are lightly esteemed. The emigrant ought
not to vex himself about having heard that people place their feet on
tables, or on the mantel-piece, as nobody will interfere with the
position of his on the floor, nor whether they chew tobacco or cheese,
as he will be allowed to eat what he pleases. The necessaries of life
are generally obtained without much difficulty, and whoever regards
mankind as created by the same Being, of the same materials, for the
same end, and entitled to the same privileges, need not despair of
happiness if he leads a life of virtue and industry.
By far the greater portion of the people I came in contact with were
natives of the New England States, who seem to have spread over a
considerable portion of the States of New York and Illinois, and the
territory of Michigan. The character of this people has often been
drawn. They have many strong characteristics, and in nine cases out of
ten may be recognised in walking into a public room, having an air of
confidence and self-esteem above all other people. They form the true
_Yankees_, and are obnoxious over the continent of North America, like
the Yorkshiremen in England, and Aberdeenshiremen in Scotland, for their
unremitting keenness and industry in business, which may have been
engendered by the poverty of the soil, and badness of the climate of New
England. They are descended from the first settlers who fled from
religious persecution in England, and seem to inherit what may be
supposed to have been the prominent dispositions of their forefathers.
They faithfully observe all the external forms of decency, and their
taciturn, phlegmatic, and calculating disposition, may render them
objects of dislike. But their intelligence, self-esteem, enterprise, and
perseverance fit them for a young country, and the growing prosperity of
the northern section of the United States’ territory is in a
considerable degree indebted to them.
The Yankees have been generally charged with unfair dealing, and
although I had no opportunity of judging of this matter personally, many
circumstances induce me to think the charge is to a certain extent well
founded. To emigrants the morals of a people are of more consequence
than their manners, between which, however, there is no connexion. The
Irish are a more polite people than the Scotch, but greatly inferior in
morality; and the Yankees, with all the outward forms of virtue, are
considered the most dishonest race in the Union. Yankee knavery is said
to consist in overreaching every one with whom they have dealings, if
the character of their customer admits of their doing so with impunity.
The charge of dishonesty is not applicable to the people of New England
generally, and much of the prejudice against them arises from their
industry and success in business. In course of conversation I never
heard imposition of any kind alluded to in terms of approbation, while
honesty of character, and more especially in public men, was invariably
praised. Virtue will ever be respected in civilized society.
In new and extensive territories the restraints of dishonesty seem
weaker, and the temptations to overreach stronger than in densely
peopled old countries. In new countries, local attachments, family
character, and many other feelings which influence conduct, are unfelt.
Individuals seldom remain long in one place, and traffic with others
similarly situated. The laws are imperfectly put in force, and
successful fraud is sometimes considered clear gain, as the parties may
never hold farther intercourse, and in the event of exposure, a change
of residence obviates disgrace. Most of the people are poor, and grasp
at wealth. There are few prejudices of birth or station in society, and
no barrier in the field of enterprise or ambition to the lowest
individual. The reverse of all this takes place in old countries, where
other policy than honesty commonly entails ruin in worldly matters. In
both situations the degree of moral principle may be the same. But in
Britain all is not virtue which appears on the surface of society, and
the fear of punishment, resulting from public opinion and effective
laws, has perhaps more influence than the dictates of conscience in
checking knavery. The intercourse of the people of Britain and certain
parts of America, seems to arise more from the different circumstances
in which they are placed than from religious and moral feeling.
If the view which I have taken of the commercial intercourse of new
countries is correct, the emigrant will soon discover that the New
Englanders are not the only sharpers in America. A gentleman settled in
the township of Hinchinbrooke, Lower Canada, in writing to his friends
in East Lothian, states, “although the inhabitants here are not Yankees,
yet all act on the Yankee system.” And I shall renounce all pretensions
to discernment if many of the inhabitants of Upper Canada are not the
most accomplished Yankees on the other side of the Atlantic. The change
which sometimes takes place in the habits and morals of people on
reaching America is not confined to the modes of acquiring property. In
some parts of Upper Canada the Sabbath was chiefly spent in shooting,
and many Scotsmen did so who lived in the vicinity of a church. Every
new settler is liable to be beset by all the knaves and cheats of the
district on his first arrival. If he defeat their first attempt they
seldom make a second, and he may afterwards transact business without
much risk of being imposed on. Too much caution cannot, however, be
exercised at first settlement, more especially towards old countrymen,
who can make advances under more favourable circumstances than a native
American, and are equally prone to take advantage.
The greedy and dishonest intercourse which takes place in many parts of
North America must be repugnant to honourable feeling, and emigrants
ought to guard against being led into the system. But however unpleasant
such a state of society may be, the people of Britain need not shun the
New World on such grounds. Your experience in life, my dear brother, has
not been extensive, but from your knowledge of, and intercourse with,
the people of East Lothian, you must be aware that amongst the peers of
the realm, their law agents and factors, the tenantry and dealers in
horses, cattle, and corn, there are individuals who lay aside morality
when transacting business, and are alone guided by the letter of the
laws. Their conversation is as little to be depended on as the passing
wind, and their writings are sometimes worded with intent to deceive. In
short, there are bad characters in every part of the world, and whoever
is capable of transacting business with the _Yankees_ of Britain need
not be afraid to encounter those in America. I admit the degree of
mercantile honour and morality may be higher in Britain than in America,
and imposition less frequent, but contend there are cheats in both
countries, and the same caution which is necessary to meet the plans of
one knave in Britain will defeat the tricks of twenty in America.
The situation of an emigrant on reaching America must be very different
from what it was at home. In the midst of a people whose manners and
customs are in some measure new to him, he is an isolated being, without
any one in whom he can confide for advice and assistance. If he cannot
think for himself, and rely on his own resources in transacting
business, he will be a helpless mortal, and in all probability become
the prey of designing persons. It is the dependence of the inhabitants
on each other in old countries which unfits so many of them to play
their part in the newly settled portions of the United States, where
each individual acts independently, and trusts to himself alone.
Americans are, therefore, the most acute people in the world in the
ordinary intercourse of life, and few foreigners need take up their
abode in the country in hope of outstripping them. The most essential
requisites in an emigrant are energy of mind, steadiness of purpose, and
persevering industry. Without possessing these qualifications, no one
need expect to mingle successfully in the bustle of life; although it is
possible to exist as a farmer, without being so highly gifted. It is a
wrong estimate of themselves which so often gives rise to disappointment
and failure on the part of British emigrants. There is nothing in the
soil or climate of America which can impart wisdom to the fool, energy
to the imbecile, activity to the slothful, or determination to the
irresolute. Examination of character should therefore form part of every
emigrant’s preparation, as his fate will perhaps altogether depend on
it. It is folly for the idle and imaginative beings who float in British
society to seek an Elysium in the United States, from whence they will
again be speedily wafted to their native country. It is the industrious,
prudent, and frugal people alone that can calculate on success.
It has already been mentioned that the United States consist of
twenty-four separate states, with a general government for defence,
commerce, and taxation. Each state has a distinct republican government,
for the regulation of its own affairs. The governments of the different
states resemble each other, although not precisely alike, and consist of
_Legislative_, _Executive_, and _Judiciary_. The mode of electing and
the powers of each branch vary in some states, but in all of them the
influence of the people is supreme.
With governments, as with almost every thing else, there is a difference
of opinion, and many individuals may dislike the republican form and
democratic tone which prevail in the states. In such a state of things
it is, however, certain, that the interests of the many never can be
sacrificed for the advantage of the few, and that the laws, taxation,
and expenditure of the country must accord with the wishes of the
people. Whatever creed emigrants may have adopted, they can live
unmolested, without joining in the turmoil of American politics. The
field of industry is open to their exertions, and its fruits may be
enjoyed in peace and security.
Travellers cannot deny the unspeakable advantages that have accrued to
the industry of the United States from the nature of their governments,
and many of them, as if stung by envy, dilate on the instability of the
Union, and by the consequent convulsion see a termination of the
happiness and prosperity of the people. It is impossible to say what
events may be in the womb of futurity; but there is no rational ground
for supposing the dissolution of the Union by war is at hand. Almost all
the domestic wars which have taken place amongst civilized men, have
either resulted from ambitious chiefs leading deluded and enslaved
followers against each other, or from resistance to tyranny. In the
region of the United States, to which my remarks are applicable, tyranny
in any shape can scarcely be said to exist; and should ambitious men
take the field, where are they to obtain followers? But supposing war to
happen, and that the democrats of America copiously shed each other’s
blood, are the aristocrats and serviles of Europe exempt from such
barbarism? The emigrant may calculate on peace from the love the people
have for their government, the absence of aristocracy and abject
poverty, and unfettered industry. Should he, however, shun the United
States, from apprehension of intestine war, in what part of the world
will he seek a retreat?
I alluded to the contrast between the United States and Upper Canada, as
witnessed near the frontier on each side of the river Niagara. After
having had an opportunity of seeing extensively both countries, I
consider my first opinions, as expressed at pages 95–96, to be
substantially correct, although other causes may have operated in
producing the difference than the governments of the countries.
It may be perfectly true “the people, soil, and climate, were originally
alike” on both sides of the Niagara, but the United States and Upper
Canada cannot with propriety be contrasted by those spots alone. The
inhabitants of the United States, generally speaking, may be said to
have been born in the country, and consequently possessed of the
peculiar feelings and qualities of a people suited to a young country.
On the other hand, most of the inhabitants of Upper Canada are either
the descendants of the Royalists, slothful and unenterprising from the
neglect with which they have been treated, or emigrants from Britain,
where many of them had acquired notions and habits ill adapted for
settling a wood covered surface. Upper Canada having also become a place
of refuge for the outcasts of other countries, and many of the settlers
being composed of the poorest of the Irish and Scotch Highlanders, two
of the most indolent and unambitious portions of civilized society,
there can be no question of the people of the United States being more
industrious and energetic than the inhabitants of Upper Canada. The
United States sooner became peopled than Upper Canada, and may,
consequently, be said to be an older country. The climate of the States
is generally also better than Upper Canada. If the view which I have
taken of the source of riches be correct, the United States, being an
older country, with a better climate, and a more industrious population
than Upper Canada, should also be wealthier. It will accordingly be
found that in all external appearances, such as villages, houses in the
country, hotels, internal intercourse and trade, and the dress of the
people, Upper Canada is about a century behind the United States.
The governments of the several States and Upper Canada are alike in
form, consisting of a governor and two deliberative assemblies. In the
States persons invested with power are chosen by the people. In Upper
Canada the governor, the members of the highest assembly, and of the
judiciary, are appointed by the King of Great Britain. The States may be
said to have passed the youth of government and attained vigorous
manhood. The government of Upper Canada is still in the helplessness of
infancy, and cannot, in the nature of things, continue permanent in its
present state. Many people give a preference to Upper Canada because it
is under the British government; but when emigrants reflect on the
nature of the two governments, let them ask themselves what the British
government has done for them at home? What they expect from it in
America? And how long Upper Canada is likely to remain subject to
Britain?
Each of the United States forms an integral part of a large confederacy,
and the advantages which the population derive from an extensive and
unfettered commercial intercourse are great. Upper Canada is insulated.
The river St Lawrence forms its only channel of trade, and already
disputes have arisen with the Lower province about the imposts collected
on foreign commodities. In the event of the Union of the States being
dissolved, the interests and feelings of the population would, in all
probability, lead to the formation of smaller unions, without disturbing
the governments of the separate states. When Upper Canada breaks, or is
thrown off from Britain, what will be her situation? While the French
interest remains strong in Lower Canada a union of the two provinces
will not take place, and all intercourse with foreign nations would be
at an end. The inhabitants of the Upper province, in such a state of
things, would be reduced to the necessity of subduing the Lower
Canadians by force of arms, or begging of the United States to be
admitted into the Union.
In the United States the expenses of the federal government are
impartially levied throughout the Union, and the burdens of the
government of each State are paid by its own inhabitants. In every State
cheap justice and free education are provided for the people; and
taxation is lighter, compared with the advantages enjoyed, than amongst
any other independent people in the world. In Upper Canada a part of the
expenses of the country is paid by the people of Great Britain and
Ireland, who also bear the expense of defending the province. Free
education is not provided for the inhabitants. Taxation is at present
almost unfelt, which is owing to the British government. The people of
Britain are not, however, likely to be long burdened with the expenses
of the province, and when the inhabitants meet the expense of governing
themselves, taxation in Upper Canada will be augmented.
The manners and customs of the people, as witnessed in public, are the
same in both countries. In all things there is much less refinement in
Upper Canada, and the manners of the people are coarse contrasted with
those in the States. Morals seem to correspond with the manners. It was,
however, the unfortunate emigrants from Britain and Ireland who imparted
such a character to the population. Many individuals seemed to me
conscious of self-debasement, and to have left home for the purpose of
indulging their vicious propensities without encountering the scorn and
censure of their friends and relations. Should it be thought that I have
judged harshly of some of my countrymen, let it be remembered I speak
only of what was observed in public, and that the bar-rooms of Upper
Canada exhibited the worst part of British society without a redeeming
feature. The domestic manners and morals of the people of either country
did not come properly within the scope of my observation. I may,
however, remark, that I was favourably impressed with the manners of the
royalist inhabitants of Canada, and it would be ungrateful on my part
not to acknowledge the uniform civility and kindness which I experienced
in private from every class of settlers.
In the United States the machinery of government is controlled by the
people, who do every thing for the welfare of the country, and political
power is invested in worth and talent alone. In Upper Canada government
is swayed by an aristocracy, who have never lost sight of their own
interest in legislating for the country. A higher and more uniform tone
of independence and self-respect pervades the inhabitants in the United
States than in Canada. The emigrant who delights in lording over his
fellow-mortals, and measures his importance and wealth by the servility
and wretchedness of others around him, ought to shun the States. The
emigrant who seeks a fair and favourable field for his industry, and
aspires to share, in common with his brethren, the just rank and
privileges of man, ought to shun Upper Canada.
The United States are rapidly progressing, and their future prosperity
seems illimitable. I ascertained there were eighteen large steam-boats
belonging to the States on lake Erie in 1833, and a gentleman, who was
there in 1834, assured me they had increased to twenty-four. By the
official report of the Postmaster-General to the President of the United
States, the annual transportation of the mail was, in 1829, 13,700,000
miles, and in 1832, 23,625,021 miles. There is not one-tenth of the
surface yet devoted to the production of human food. The coal-fields of
the west are perhaps inexhaustible, the water communication is almost
without limits, and the extent of canals and railroads already exceed
that of any other nation. The country is great even in its infancy. If
its territory, consisting of 1,328,902,400 acres, were peopled to the
same degree as England, containing a great deal of land which cannot be
cultivated, the inhabitants would amount to 537,872,383, while the
present population is about 14,000,000. A vast extent of the best soil,
situated in the finest climate, is still unoccupied, and if the views
regarding the assistance nature affords the farmer, and his reward
affecting wages of other labour, which I have already laid down, be
correct, industry cannot fail of meeting with a rich reward for many
centuries yet to come.
The internal and external state of the country is free from molestation,
and the principles of education and good government are so firmly
established, and applicable to every condition that may arise, that
nothing is likely to check the prosperity of the United States but
fancied opposition of interests resulting from extent of territory. A
state of things will soon appear, however, to hold the Union together in
spite of opposing interests. Between 37 and 45 degrees of north
latitude, and beyond 5 degrees of west longitude from Washington, lies
the most favoured region of North America. By inspecting a map it will
be seen this district is intersected in all directions by navigable
rivers and other channels of commerce. The great outlet of the region is
by the Mississippi to New Orleans. The river Ohio communicates with
Philadelphia and Baltimore by canals and railroads, and by canals and
lake Erie with New York. The rivers Wabash, Illinois, Mississippi, and
Missouri, will also, in progress of time, communicate with New York by
the Erie canal or other means. For reasons which will be afterwards
stated, population must soon accumulate in this district, which
possesses almost every thing within itself which can add to the wealth
and greatness of a country. The chief power of the States will centre
here, and the interests of the inhabitants being interwoven with the
mentioned seaports, they will insist on an observance of the Union,
whatever may be the views of the northern and southern states.
The inhabitants of the States speak the same language as the English,
which may be called the language of commerce. They are made acquainted
with the improvements and discoveries of Britain a few months after they
become known, and from the freedom of institutions, and energy of the
people, greater effect can sometimes be given to them. On a general view
of all the circumstances affecting the character and situation of the
country and the people, it is scarcely possible to imagine a region
promising such unchecked prosperity and future greatness.
Upper Canada has made unparalleled advancement of late years, which is
not likely to continue at the present rate, as the causes of prosperity
have been altogether artificial. A great number of gallant men, after
meritoriously serving Britain in war, were placed on the half-pay list,
in prime of life. Seeing no prospect of employment or farther
advancement in the profession of arms, many of them retired to Upper
Canada, in hope of providing for their families, where they were
assigned a grant of land. This class of emigrants cannot, however, be
much augmented, and the chief source of value to the country of those
already settled—their annuities—will terminate with their lives. Of late
years, immense sums have been lavished unproductively by the British
Government on canals and other works, and in paying public services,
which cannot be continued in the existing state of things. A third
source of advancement has been the tens of thousands of individuals
lured into the country from Britain by devices which will soon lose
their influence, in consequence of a rival to the Canada Company having
appeared in Lower Canada, under the title of the American Land Company.
Many of the shareholders reside in Quebec and Montreal, who will employ
their influence to prevent strangers proceeding to the Upper province.
From these causes, which are temporary, and others formerly stated,
there is little reason to expect a continuance of the recent progression
in Upper Canada. The country has, however, great advantages in water
communication, which, in progress of time, will become useful to trade.
There is still much unoccupied land, a great part of which, however,
lies in an unfavourable climate. From this circumstance, the monopoly of
land, and its consequent high price, the reward of industry and wages of
labour are more likely to diminish than increase.
The position of Upper Canada in its external relations, which has been
stated at page 413, must be considered unfavourable, and in the internal
condition of the country there is much which is unsatisfactory. The
province is an appendage to Britain, and seems to have aped many of the
frailties of the mother country. The principle of government has been
patronage; the rule of governing, enriching the few and despising the
many. Hence abuses in extensive grants of land, pensions, superfluous
offices, an aristocracy, and such an aristocracy! a rapacious church,
and the neglect of education. The institutions of Britain are a century
behind the intelligence of her inhabitants. Upper Canada is generations
behind North America in legislation. I have already said the government
of the province is in helpless infancy, and add, it must pass through
the slippery paths of youth before attaining strength. There is already
discord amongst the inhabitants, who are assailing the oligarchy under a
sturdy, though not comprehensive minded, leader. The strife is likely to
be tedious, and without bloodshed; the poverty of the country and
character of the people being a sufficient guarantee against aggression
or envy on the part of the United States, and the scattered condition of
the settlers a protection against themselves.
The policy of the movement party ought to be, to seek the aid of the
mother country, and steadily but cautiously proceed with measures
calculated to cripple the aristocracy, the dominant church, and the
Canada Company. These changes can only be lastingly and beneficially
effected by extending the elective franchise, and providing free
education for the inhabitants. The ultimate policy of Upper Canada is to
court a union with the United States, which would open channels of trade
by way of New Orleans and New York.
On a general view of the circumstances affecting the country and people
of Upper Canada, much time will be required to develope the resources of
the country; and a period of excitement is likely to intervene before a
permanent government can be established.
Every thing in the United States seems to me to be resting on a natural
and sure foundation, with prospect of continued prosperity. In Upper
Canada, most things appear to be on an artificial footing, and must
consequently experience change. The States present a wider and a better
field for the exercise of industry than Upper Canada; and the British
emigrant, who must live by his own exertions, makes a sacrifice of his
immediate interests, and in all probability the interests of his
posterity, by preferring Upper Canada to the United States as a place of
settlement.
Many people may prefer Canada to the States, from having friends already
settled there. Such a reason is not creditable to their friends in
Britain, whom they leave behind. The person who makes up his mind to
leave the place of his nativity, ought to employ his industry and
capital in the best field, and endeavour to bring his friends who may
have settled less fortunately to him.
CHAPTER VIII.
_Illinois—Climate—Face of the
country—Prairies—Soil—Salt—Lead—Iron—Coal—Water
Communication—History—Towns—Government—Education—Kentucky
Population—New Englanders—Pioneers—Manners and Customs._
Some of the western United States, forming part of the extensive and
fertile valley of the Mississippi, are so different in character from
the Eastern States and the Canadas for agricultural emigration, as to
merit particular consideration. The region alluded to lies north of
latitude 38°, and from 7° of west longitude from Washington to the rocky
mountains. Much of this tract is imperfectly known, having never perhaps
been trod by civilized man, and embraces the states of Indiana,
Illinois, Missouri, and the Michigan, North-west, and Missouri
territories. My personal observation extended to a portion of four of
the mentioned divisions, which enabled me to form an opinion of their
characteristics, which are said to be pretty uniform; and for the sake
of precision Illinois shall be noticed.
The State of Illinois extends from north latitude 37° to 42½°, and from
west longitude 10° 35′ to 14° 25′. It is bounded on the south by the
river Ohio, on the west by the Mississippi, on the north by the
north-west territory, and on the east by lake Michigan and Indiana. The
length is 382 miles, the area 57,900 square miles, or 37,056,000 acres,
which is nearly the size of England and Wales.
The climate of Illinois partakes of the general character of North
America, but from the absence of hills, and small elevation above the
level of the sea, this region is milder than any other of the same
latitude, The winter in the southern parts seldom exceeds six weeks. At
Shawneetown, which is in the southern part of the State, the average
temperature of July, in 1819, was 87°, of December 43°, and the mean
annual temperature 64°. At Prairies des Chiens, which is a few miles
beyond the northern boundary of the State, the temperature in July 1820
was 74°, in December 16°, and the average of the year 48° 5ʹ.[6]
Footnote 6:
Melish’s View of the United States.
The diseases in Illinois are such as are common to the upper Mississippi
valley, amongst which intermitting and remitting bilious fevers often
occur. From the variations of temperature, inflammatory complaints and
diseases of the lungs are frequent in this and almost every other part
of North America. I met several young men, suffering under consumption,
travelling in the steam-boats of the west, although this malady is much
more frequent in the eastern states. By an official report of the deaths
in the city of New York, from 24th November to 1st December, 1832, in a
newspaper lying before me, 14 cases of consumption, out of a total of
92, are recorded, which is the highest number of any disease on the
list; and the same paper states 5 of consumption, out of 62, at
Philadelphia, which occurred during the previous week. Fever, dyspepsia,
and consumption, are the maladies of Illinois, the two first being most
common in the south, and the latter in the north. The health of an
emigrant may, in some measure, be preserved by care. Exposure to sudden
changes of temperature without proper clothing, and uncomfortable houses
in inclement weather, seldom fail of engendering disease.
The mouth of the Ohio, in the south-west angle of the state, being about
300 feet above the level of the sea, and lake Michigan, in the
north-east angle, being 589 feet, while there is no range of hills or
elevated ground intervening, the surface of the country must necessarily
be level, which is more particularly the case towards the southern part
of the state. The rivers, which intersect the country in every
direction, have formed deep channels for the conveyance of water, and no
great extent of the surface is marshy. The space which I travelled over
on foot, between Chicago, on lake Michigan, and the village of
Springfield in Sangamon county, a distance of about 200 miles, the
surface, with exception of a few miles at the commencement and
termination of the journey, was undulating, the swells being long and
considerable, without a lake, pond, or marsh being visible, except in
one instance. On approaching Springfield, the surface became level
without being wet, and from this village until I crossed the Mississippi
the wettest parts of the surface might have been rendered dry by the
ordinary means of ditching.
The feature in the surface of Illinois, which chiefly distinguishes it
from the eastern states and the Canadas, is the prairies, or tracts
which are free from timber. I imagine prairies to be natural
productions; they may be termed grass fields, and are of every size and
shape, being separated from each other by tracts of forest. Americans,
whose ideas of an uninhabited country are associated with interminable
forests, have speculated on the origin of prairies, which they regard as
an anomaly in nature, and assign their existence to man. A Scotchman,
accustomed to the bleak naked mountains, and artificial forests of his
own country, may take an opposite view of a prairie, and support his
opinion by the state of the earth’s surface after the flood, which would
be without trees. But the forest and prairie surfaces of Illinois stand
in the relation of water and land on the face of the earth, both being
the handiwork of nature, and forming bays, peninsulas, straits,
isthmuses, lakes, islands, and every other form of outline which charm
the eye and delight the imagination. To the individual who has long been
immured in the forest, the effect of prairie scenery is enchanting; and
the inhabitant of a cultivated and thickly peopled country, who can gaze
on the lovely, the lonely, and the rich prairies of Illinois without
emotion towards God and his fellow-creatures must be void of feeling.
The different published accounts of Illinois represent one-half of the
surface of the state to be prairie, but it is probable none of the
writers, or any one individual, has had a proper opportunity of forming
an opinion on the subject. In the course of my journey,
nineteen-twentieths of the country appeared to be prairie; but the
forest tract is chiefly in the south, which I did not visit. It is
however certain a vast extent of prairie lies north of latitude 39°. An
English traveller informed me he found the prairie country unchanged 500
miles to the west of Illinois. And if such is the case, its breadth in
latitude 40° will exceed 1000 miles.
There is a considerable extent of the surface thinly covered with trees,
interspersed with the same kind of herbage as clothes the prairies,
called barrens, or oak-openings, from the wood which grows on them. They
may either be considered thin forest, or wooded prairie, as they partake
of the nature of both; but in an agricultural point of view, they must
be classed as prairie, from the herbage they afford. The soil of
Illinois, like many other parts of the world which has come under my
notice, is variable, and the different habitations of the varieties of
sunflower and other tall-growing plants, often distinctly marked changes
of soil on the prairie. The prevailing soil between Chicago and
Springfield, was black sandy loam, and occasionally considerable tracts
of clay or heavy loam intervened. In this distance of nearly 200 miles,
I did not pass over, in all, 10 miles of bad soil, which was light
coloured sand. The surface, which is forest, oak-openings, or prairie,
has no relation to quality of soil, all of which abound with soils of
every description.
On no part of the prairie did I observe heath, or other thriftless
vegetation, occupying the entire surface, with exception of a dwarfish
species of hazel, in a few instances, to a limited extent. Besides the
many beautiful flowering plants which adorn the prairies, they are
covered with four or five tall-growing kinds of grass, and the moist and
dry soils could be distinguished by the luxuriance of different species.
From the grass attaining between three and four feet in height, and
being seared by a powerful sun, the surface of the prairies is scorched
by fire every autumn, originating by human, and, it is presumed, also
occasionally by natural means. The annual burning seems to have
destroyed all the grasses which possess fibrous roots, and are
propagated by seed; those which at present exist having strong roots,
which resist the effects of fire, and propagate themselves without seed.
This property of the grasses is illustrative of the economy of nature,
by furnishing plants for every situation and circumstance that may
arise. The burning is not attended with much danger, as the turning of
one or two sods by the plough is deemed a sufficient protection against
fire for a hay stack in the midst of the prairie; and the inhabitants
either save their buildings by this means, or by burning the grass
immediately around them, before the general conflagration takes place.
The burning, in all probability, is conducive to health, by consuming
vegetation, which would otherwise putrify on the surface, and by
checking the luxuriance of its growth, which the unconsumed matter would
produce by natural decay. There is a ruling Providence in every thing!
The mineral productions of the state have been imperfectly explored.
Salt is manufactured in many situations. Near Shawneetown is the most
extensive establishment, where about 138,000 bushels are made yearly.
Salt is also made in the neighbourhood of Brownsville, in Madison
county, and in other parts. The saline reservations given to the state,
by the general government, consist of 206,128 acres. One of the most
remarkable gifts which bountiful nature has lavished on the valley of
the Mississippi, appears to me to be the inexhaustible supply of salt
water. The government of the country seem fully to appreciate the gift,
and have wisely made the springs public property, by which the community
will obtain the indispensable article of salt at the cheapest rate.
Lead abounds in the north-east angle of the state, in the neighbourhood
of Galena. The mineral is found on both sides of the Mississippi, and
supposed to extend over several thousand square miles. The ore is found
in detached masses, and not in veins, which renders the digging a matter
of chance. The quantity of lead manufactured here, in 1829, was
13,343,150 lbs.; and the population of the region is stated at
10,000.[7] There are also lead diggings in the State of Missouri, about
70 miles south-west of St Louis, and which were wrought by the French
about a century ago. The price of lead, at Galena, is from 2 to 3 cents
per lb. When at Springfield, I met a young gentleman from Leith, in
Scotland, who had travelled by way of New York, the Erie canal, and lake
Michigan, provided with a considerable quantity of shot, which he
imagined the country could not furnish.
Footnote 7:
Guide to the valley of Mississippi. Philadelphia, 1832.
Iron ore is said to exist in the southern part of the state; and copper
ore in the lead region around Galena. But I believe neither of them have
been manufactured.
Coal, of bituminous quality, has been found on the banks of the
principal rivers, in different parts of the state, and, from having been
seen on the banks of the river Missouri, it is supposed to extend over
the whole of the upper part of the Mississippi valley. But, in the
present state of the country, no particular examination of the field has
been made. Coal has, however, been wrought in many places on the banks
of rivers by quarrying; and is found above the level of the waters.
Several steam-mills, at St Louis, use coal for fuel.
Iron is manufactured in Wabash county, and limestone is found over the
whole State. I observed abundance of sandstone in the channel of the
Illinois; and perhaps almost every mineral which is useful to man will
be found on examination.
Illinois is favourably situated for water communication, the interior of
the state being intersected by the Kaskaskia, Rock, and Illinois rivers,
which are navigable at all seasons of the year. The State is said to
contain between three and four thousand miles of boatable waters, a
description of navigation which cannot be well defined, as every rill,
in so level a country, will float a boat of small size, on melting of
the snow in spring. There is no doubt, however, of the water
communication being extensive, which will be farther improved by
connecting the navigable point of the Illinois with lake Michigan. To
the formation of a canal for this purpose, Congress granted the State
480,000 acres of land. The undertaking has not been commenced; and the
extent of rock discovered in the intended line, may render a railroad
necessary. The navigable rivers Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi form the
boundaries of three sides, and lake Michigan is on the fourth. The
external communication is as remarkable as the internal.
The Mississippi connects the State of Illinois with New Orleans to the
south; the Ohio opens a communication with Baltimore, Philadelphia, and
New York to the west. To the north, lake Michigan communicates with lake
Superior and the world of waters which flow into the gulf of St
Lawrence. The western communication, by the Missouri, is only limited by
civilisation, a steam-boat belonging to the American Fur Company having
sailed 1400 miles up the river, from its junction with the Mississippi.
So little is known about the western sources of the Missouri, that the
limits of navigation, in this direction, must at present be conjectural;
and it does not seem to require a stretch of imagination to conceive, as
population advances, a communication opened between the head waters of
this river and the Pacific ocean. Should such an event take place, the
empires of China, Japan, and Russia will be brought near, and Illinois
become one of the most central and favourable trading situations in the
world.
Illinois was originally discovered by the French, who penetrated by way
of Canada, in 1673. They founded the villages of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and
others in 1683. When the country became part of the United States, it
formed part of the territory north-west of the Ohio. In 1801, it was
included with Indiana as a territory. In 1809, it was made a separate
territory. And became one of the United States in 1818.
In so recent a settled country, large towns cannot be expected to be
found. Vandalia is the capital, and, like other capitals, situated near
the centre of the state. It stands on the western bank of the Kaskaskia,
and was founded in 1821. The population is stated at 500 souls.
Shawneetown on the Ohio, about nine miles below the mouth of the Wabash,
is the largest town in the State. A number of thriving villages are
rising in every direction, and will acquire population according to
their situations for trade. Galena, situated on Fever river, a few miles
above its junction with the Mississippi, and in the north-west corner of
the State, will rise into importance, from the manufacture of lead in
the neighbourhood. One hundred steam-boat arrivals at this place are
said to have occurred within the year. Chicago on lake Michigan, and
Ottawa on the Illinois, from being situated at the termination of the
communication connecting these waters, will become important places.
Alton, situated on the Mississippi, one mile above the mouth of the
Missouri, and sixteen below the entrance of the Illinois, is centrically
situated for trade, and is soon likely to become the chief shipping port
of the State.
The legislature of Illinois is vested in a General Assembly, consisting
of a Senate and House of Representatives. The members of Senate are
elected for four years, and the representatives for two years. The pay
of the members of each branch of the legislature is $3 a-day. The right
of suffrage is vested in all free whites twenty-one years of age, and
who have resided six months in the State. The votes are given _viva
voce_.[8]
Footnote 8:
Mellish’s View.
The executive is vested in a governor and lieutenant-governor, both
elected for four years. The governor’s salary is $1000, or L.212, 10s.
sterling a-year.
The judiciary consists of a chief-justice, and three associate-judges,
who hold circuit courts. Their salaries are $1000 each.
The taxes are levied by three commissioners in each county. Justices of
the peace are elected by the people every four years, and their
jurisdiction extends over inferior cases. Each county has a judge of
probate, before whom business relating to wills is transacted.
There is no imprisonment for debt, except in case of fraud or refusal on
the part of the debtor to deliver up his property for the behoof of his
creditors. There are no usury laws. And slavery is not allowed since the
adoption of the constitution.
There are fifty-eight counties, and a considerable portion of the
northern part of the State has not been surveyed, which was sold by the
Indians in 1833. The population, in 1800, consisted of 12,282. In 1830,
there were 157,445 inhabitants; and, from the recent emigration, their
numbers must now exceed 200,000.
Congress granted to the State, for the purposes of education, one
thirty-sixth part of the public land, or 977,457 acres, and 3 per cent
on the sales of land. So there can be no doubt of an efficient system of
common free schools being established, wherever the wants of the
population require them. Besides the grant for common schools, 46,080
acres of land have been granted for colleges. Such an institution was
established at Jacksonville in 1829.
The population of Illinois embraces settlers from almost every State in
the Union, and every country in Europe. The inhabitants of the south,
are understood to have come from Kentucky, a slave-holding State, and
were induced to settle in this district from their dislike of slavery.
The emigrating Kentuckians approving of slavery, take up their residence
in the adjoining State of Missouri, where this bondage is tolerated. The
Kentuckians possess different dispositions from the inhabitants of the
other States, and, like the New Englanders, they seem to inherit the
characters of their forefathers. The first settlers of Kentucky, for a
period of between thirty and forty years, waged a cruel and savage
warfare with the Indians. Many thousands perished in the strife, and the
features which such a mode of life could not fail of imparting to their
characters, have descended, with some modification, to their progeny.
The Kentuckians of the present day are men of warm temperament,
high-souled, and fearless; but, at the same time, generous and
hospitable in the extreme. They have been termed the Irishmen of
America. With ill-regulated tempers, they can have little medium of
character, and will be good or bad members of society, according to the
principles they have imbibed. The Kentuckians are said to go armed with
knives, a practice which is thought to be on the decline, and which I
cannot corroborate from observation. This practice has in all
probability descended from the first settlers, and would originate from
the unfortunate circumstances in which they were placed. A few boys in
Britain, who mistake true honour and courage, provide themselves with
pistols and sword-sticks. Perhaps only the fiery youths of Kentucky wear
knives.
In the northern part of Illinois almost all the inhabitants appeared to
have come from New England, and possessed the characteristics of that
people. During my intercourse with them I received some impressions of
their dispositions and movements at variance with what I had been led to
expect. It has been usual to represent this people void of the best
feelings of humanity—the parent with little affection for his
offspring—the boy without filial love, impatient of restraint, and
scampering off from school to obtain independence in the distant
wilderness. But when I found many unmarried young men, after twelve
months’ residence in Illinois, anxiously expecting the arrival of their
parents from New England, and had travelled with old people journeying
from that country to join their sons in Illinois, I attributed the
moving of youth to the western districts to the best of motives, and
assigned to both parties the feelings of domestic affection. The youth
of Britain do not engage in the bustle of the world so early as the
Americans, and family intercourse is consequently more enduring. But it
is the difficulty of earning a subsistence and not affection, which
binds the young men of Britain to the roof of their parents, and in all
probability the emotions of the heart are the same in both countries.
A class of men are said to precede civilisation in America, called
pioneers or squatters, and have been described by travellers as
demi-savages, blackened with iniquity, and shunning their fellow
mortals, by moving to a more remote station, as settlers advance. It is
probable such beings did at one time exist, and may still occasionally
be met with in the lower part of the Mississippi valley. They may be
supposed to have originated in such a state of things as occurred at the
first settlement of Kentucky, and perhaps were altogether confined to
the latitude of this State. In the present day, when the east is densely
peopled, and civilisation in the region of Illinois has reached an open
country, desperate characters are more likely to find subsistence and
concealment in the crowded city than in the prairie. Be this as it may,
there are no such characters in the northern parts of Illinois as the
pioneers of old, and I regard the present frontier men of the prairie as
one of the best and most enterprising portions of the western
population.
The manners and customs of Illinois have been described by Mr Stuart in
his “Three Years in North America,” in terms and spirit so different
from almost any thing that is noticed in the work, that I shall quote
part of his remarks.
“I made enquiry on the road from some passengers, as to the hotels at
Jacksonville, and was told there were two, neither of them good, but
that Bentley’s was the best. I found, on going into the house, that the
tea and supper were nearly finished; and it was not without some
difficulty, and rather uninviting looks from a young lady who was acting
as waiter, that I procured a fresh supply of coffee and eggs. This was
Saturday evening, and the young ladies, after having cleared the table
and again covered it with the necessary articles, sat down to their meal
with me, on a footing of the most perfect equality. I found them very
inquisitive, far more so than any of the New Englanders I ever met with,
but I afterwards learned that these people had lately come from a remote
part of the country, where probably there were no schools. Such silly
conduct, in respect to their own interest, as they were guilty of during
the forty-eight hours I remained with them, is generally the offspring
of ignorance. I found the hotel-keeper a masterpiece of rudeness, and
very soon got a candle and retired to my bedroom. I was told the
breakfast hour was half past seven, but I started from my pillow on the
following morning at six, when I heard other people stirring so early,
and the breakfast had commenced before I was able to get to the parlour.
I asked how this happened; but I found from the answer that it was quite
unnecessary to have any farther discussion with such a barbarian as
Squire Bentley. He did not care for the customs of the British. His
forefathers had left England to avoid tyranny, and they did not care for
seeing foreigners here.
“The tea and supper at the hotel in the evening was even a more
ridiculously managed meal, than any of those which preceded it. The
female waiter, it being Sunday evening, was particularly smartly
dressed, and sat at the end of the table and at some distance from it,
much more intent on placing one leg above the other in a proper position
for showing her foot and ankle than in giving the necessary attendance
at the tea-table—but she was such a good-humoured ‘romp-loving looking
Miss,’ that though she did any thing rather than attend to her duty, I
believe she was the most popular of all the hotel family with the
strangers. Every thing was bad, and the hotel people completely lost
temper when they noticed that we did not even find fault with them, but
laughed at the absurdity of being so treated. Even the bread was
execrable—a most uncommon occurrence in the United States. I soon left
the supper-table, and when sitting in my thinly boarded room, heard the
landlord tell a traveller who had recently arrived, at ten minutes past
nine in the evening, that he must go to bed—he could not wait longer to
show him his room. Candlesticks seemed never to have been
cleaned—snuffers were wanting—and as for shoes, there was no one to
clean them while I was in the house.
“At an early hour on the following morning, the 3d May, I left
Jacksonville, not without thanking Tom Bentley for his civility, and
telling him how utterly unfit he was for his situation.
“Springfield is a straggling village, somewhat longer than Jacksonville,
but the situation is not at all equal to it in point of beauty or
interest. The hotel was very nearly as bad as that at Jacksonville.
Hornden was the name of the landlord. It was difficult to say whether
he, his wife, or his daughter was the sauciest. They certainly were as
rude untutored Americans as I have seen. The lady undertook to wash some
linen for me, and there was no difficulty about it—as I got to her house
early in the afternoon—but she delayed and delayed so, that I was
obliged to carry them away only half dried next morning after seven
o’clock.”
It was my fortune to visit Springfield and Jacksonville, without being
aware at the time of Mr Stuart’s remarks, and my treatment seems to have
been very different from what he describes. At Springfield I put up at
the hotel in which Mr Stuart lodged, and refer to page 241 for the
particulars of my reception. In the interval between his excursion and
mine, the hotel had changed proprietors—and I found no difficulty in
getting linens washed and shoes cleaned. Every individual connected with
the house was attentive and civil.
My intercourse with Jacksonville was of short duration, and I have no
means of ascertaining if I entered Bentley’s hotel. The house in which I
took coffee was situated on the north side of the square, and in all
respects greatly superior to the hotel at Springfield. A smart waiter
attended the stage passengers during coffee, and the hotel keeper
himself was looking after his business at 2 o’clock in the morning, when
the mail started with us.
Mr Stuart mentions two female waiters having seated themselves at table
with him at Jacksonville, “on a footing of the most perfect equality.”
Throughout the whole of my intercourse with the United States, no female
waiter or help of any degree seated herself at table, or even in the
room of a hotel when I was present, and I am unable to determine whether
this was the result of accident or design. Perhaps the young ladies may
have disdained to honour me with their company. Mr Stuart’s treatment on
his arrival at Jacksonville, admits of easy explanation. By his own
account, “on going into the house tea and supper were nearly finished,”
and it was with some difficulty he was admitted to a second table, at
which the establishments of western hotels sit down. Mr Stuart had
refused to seat himself with the rest of the company at the first table,
and in fairness ought to be considered an obtruder at the second one. On
his arrival he plainly showed that he considered himself somewhat
different from the guests of the hotel, by not sitting down at table. If
inferior to them it was right he should mess with the establishment, and
if he had assumed superiority over them, it was right so to punish his
arrogance. In either case he met with his desert. Travellers in America
may derive instruction from his fate. The individual who moves,
snail-like, in a foreign land, canopied with the manners and customs of
his own country, and marking his route with the slime of prejudice, need
not expect civility from the inhabitants.
It is quite evident Mr Stuart had been playing the _great man_ in this
part of the country. His demand of fresh coffee and eggs in the evening,
his questions about breakfast next morning, his allegation that “the
hotel people completely lost temper when they noticed that we did not
even find fault with them,” and that the female waiter put forth her
foot and ankle for his admiration, all denote in a high degree
self-importance.
In the seventh chapter of Mr Stuart’s work there is the following
extract from Professor Silliman, when alluding to an inn in Connecticut.
“This is a peculiarity in the manners of this country not easily
understood by a foreigner, and especially by an Englishman. Such a
person, if uninstructed in the genius of the country, almost of course
presumes that all those he sees in public houses are in servile
situations. If he adopt towards them imperious and harsh language he
gives offence, and produces coldness and possibly resentment, so that
the interview ends in mutual dissatisfaction. If the traveller should
write a book he of course enlarges on the rudeness of American manners,
and it is very possible that even the servants of our inns may give him
some occasion for such remarks, if they are treated as persons of their
condition commonly are in Europe.” Mr Stuart seems to have forgotten
this sensible quotation while in Illinois, and I have no doubt had
himself to blame for any rudeness he may have experienced. The heart is
the source of true politeness, which is often better conveyed by
expression of feature or tone of voice, than by words or gestures. The
possessor of such civility is incapable of, and invulnerable to,
rudeness, and will be well received in every part of the world. At the
time Mr Stuart told Tom Bentley “how utterly unfit he was for his
situation,” he himself committed a flagrant outrage on decorum, and
justly merited any treatment that could have been bestowed on him. There
is a ludicrous anecdote related at Springfield of his demands on
Hornden, which, if true, shows how unlikely it was any American landlord
could comply with them.
The manners and customs of a people, like objects in a landscape, may be
coloured by the medium of vision, and they will not only appear
different to individuals, but seemingly vary to the same individual
according as his feelings may alter. It is evident Mr Stuart was out of
humour both at Jacksonville and Springfield, and could not have been a
dispassionate judge of what was passing around him. His situation and
mine in Illinois must have been very different. He had travelled for
some time before in slave-holding countries, where he had fared
sumptuously on canvass-backed ducks and other delicacies, attended by
crouching and despised creatures. For many weeks I had sojourned in the
rudest parts of Upper Canada, Indiana, and Illinois, leading a
demi-savage life, and faring, as it were, by the way sides. He was
travelling with a carriage and pair, accompanied by a store of venison
hams, and whisky. I trudged on foot, quenching my thirst with
indifferent water, and occasionally satisfying my hunger with nuts.
Jacksonville and Springfield must necessarily have presented less
refinement, luxury, and humiliation than he had been accustomed to, and
more civilisation and comfort than I had for some time experienced. From
the state of my feelings consequent on such a transition, it is possible
I may have seen things in too favourable a light, and the truth may
perhaps be found to lie somewhere between Mr Stuart’s account and mine.
Referring to what has been stated at pages 400, 401, and 403, regarding
the amount of the population of the United States, and the progress of
wealth and refinement, it would be unreasonable to expect luxury in so
young a country as Illinois, or to subject the manners and customs of
its inhabitants to serious criticism. Indeed it will appear evident to
every reflecting mind, that such a motley population, scattered over an
extensive territory, cannot yet have amalgamated in feeling or custom,
and that the manners of the different parts of the state will be as
varied as the origin of their population. Rudeness and vulgarity are not
attributes of the native population of the United States; and if found
in Illinois, they must be imports from foreign countries. The
circumstances of the State with regard to refinement are favourable to
young men entering on life. But every emigrant on leaving Britain must
lay his account with a change, to whatever part of the world he
proceeds; and if he dislike the manners of the people of Illinois, he
can live in retirement.
CHAPTER IX.
_Productions—Animals—Fowls—Country for Sporting—Mode of Selling
Land—Unsold Public Land—Number of Indians—Government
policy towards the Indians— War with Indians—Decrease of
Population—Agriculture—Wages of Labour—Illinois and Upper Canada._
The productions of Illinois are numerous, including wheat, Indian corn,
tobacco, Irish and sweet potatoes, and the castor bean from which oil is
expressed. Cotton and wine are said to be productions of the southern
parts. Almost every kind of fruit attains perfection. Honey is obtained
in great quantities both from wild and domesticated bees, which gather
sweets from the prairie flowers.
The wild animals include bears; grey, black, and prairie wolves; two
varieties of the fox; rabbits, &c. &c. Deer are very numerous throughout
the state. The hare is not found in North America.
The wild-fowl embrace geese, ducks, turkeys, and quails in endless
numbers. The ruffed grouse, or prairie hen, is very plentiful, and one
of the finest of game birds. While walking from Chicago I observed them
often singly, and seldom more than two or three together. In the
neighbourhood of Springfield they were in flocks of from sixty to
seventy, scattered over a considerable space while feeding, and, when
disturbed, rising on wing without concert, in the manner of the British
pheasant.
The prairies of Illinois seem to me the only good sporting country I saw
in America. The ruffed grouse, in size and mode of flying, resemble the
black-cock of Britain, and are every where in great numbers. Quails may
be as easily shot as sparrows in England, and there are abundance of
deer. Fox-hunting might be pursued at a rattling pace over the prairie,
which does not present an interruption of any description, and would
literally form a fox-race. The deer and prairie wolf might be hunted
with dogs, or shot, according to fancy. I recommend the upper
Mississippi valley to British sportsmen, as a country likely to afford
them amusement and instruction. A person may cross the Atlantic with a
brace of dogs in one of the best vessels, and travel to the prairies,
and devote a year to the excursion, living in the best style the country
affords, for the sum of L.200 sterling. If he were economical in
crossing the ocean, and living with settlers, and serving himself while
in Illinois, the expense would be under L.120.
The mode of selling government land in Illinois, is the same as in the
other parts of the Union. When a tract has been surveyed, and brought
into the market for settlement, it is advertised, and a day and place of
sale fixed. Lots are put up and sold to the highest bidder for ready
money. The tracts generally consist of millions of acres, and the sale
is continued from day to day while individuals call for particular lots.
When purchasers are satisfied, a public land-office is opened for the
sale of the remainder, the price of which is invariably $1¼, or 5s. 3¾d.
sterling per acre. A person wishing land goes to the land-office and
selects any lot which pleases him. There is no form of application or
interest necessary, title-deeds and possession being immediately
obtained on payment of the purchase money. Government land is never sold
on credit, and there is no fee of office, nor any other expense, on
receiving titles.
Formerly the price of land was $2 per acre; one-fourth was paid at the
time of purchase, one-fourth at the end of two years, one-fourth at
three years, and the remaining fourth at four years. It was, however,
found that much of the price of land sold on credit could not be
recovered. An act of Congress was passed, limiting the price in future
to $1¼ per acre, ready money, and the purchasers in arrears were
dispossessed of a part of their lands. With this example on record, it
may appear somewhat singular that land should continue to be sold on
credit in Canada. It seems, however, the policy in that country to
enrich the aristocracy at the expense of the poor; and selling
high-priced land on credit is one of the most effectual means that could
be adopted.
There were 28,237,850 acres of unsold public land in Illinois in 1832,
and upwards of 3,000,000 acres recently sold by the Pottowatomy Indians
have since come into the market. By far the greater portion of this
extensive surface is prairie, on which cattle and sheep might be
pastured without challenge, and the whole is open to the selection of
settlers.
The following estimate of unoccupied land, belonging to the United
States Government, is taken from Mellish’s View, published in 1822.
ACRES.
Ohio, 9,000,000
Indiana, 10,000,000
Illinois, 30,000,000
Missouri, 15,000,000
Alabama, 12,000,000
Mississippi, 6,000,000
Louisiana, 10,000,000
Michigan territory, 4,000,000
North-west territory, 2,000,000
Arkansas territory, 15,000,000
———————————
Total, 113,000,000
In addition to the public lands above stated, the United States hold the
preemption right, or exclusive right of purchasing from the Indians
tracts lying in several of the States and territories mentioned, and in
the immense territory of Missouri, the aggregate extent of which may be
stated at not less than 1,000,000,000 acres.
The number of Indians in the valley of the Mississippi, which includes
nearly all that reside on the United States’ territory, is not
accurately known. The following estimate is taken from a Philadelphia
publication of 1832, entitled, “View of the valley of the Mississippi.”
Creeks, 22,500
Choctaws, 18,000
Cherokees, 14,500
Seminoles, 4,000
Chickasaws, 3,500
Sioux, 25,000
Chippeways, 6,000
Blackfeet, 5,000
Assinaboins, 8,000
Pottowatomies, 6,500
Pawnees, 6,500
Omahas and Otoes, 3,180
Delawares, 1,600
Shawanese, 6,350
Kansas, 1,500
Osages, 6,500
Senecas, 400
Senecas and Shawanese, 320
Miamis, 1,000
Wyandots, 450
Kickapoos, 1,800
Peorias, Piankashaws, Weas, and Kaskaskias, 1,000
Wimebagos, 5,300
Sacs, 6,300
Menomonies, 4,000
Crows, 4,500
Arripahas, 4,000
Crees, 3,000
Ottawas, 4,000
Algonquins, 3,000
And about twenty other small tribes, including Mandans,
Arickarees, &c. &c., 25,000
———————
Total, 202,700
As the settlement and future prospects of Illinois are connected with
the Indians, the policy of the United States Government towards them may
be explained by extracts from a report of the Secretary of War to the
President, dated November 25, 1832:—“In the practice of European
states,” says President Adams, “before our revolution, the Indians had
been considered as children, to be governed as tenants at discretion, to
be dispossessed as occasion may require, as hunters to be indemnified by
trifling concessions for removal from the grounds upon which their game
was extirpated. In changing the system it would seem as if a full
contemplation of the consequences of the change had not been taken. We
have been far more successful in the acquisition of their lands than
imparting to them the principles, or inspiring them with the spirit of
civilisation. But in apportioning to ourselves their hunting grounds, we
have brought on ourselves the obligation of providing them with
subsistence; and when we have had the rare good fortune of teaching them
the arts of civilisation and the doctrines of Christianity, we have
unexpectedly found them forming, in the midst of ourselves, communities,
claiming to be independent of ours, and rivals of sovereignty, within
the territories of the members of the Union. This state of things
requires that a remedy should be provided—a remedy which, while it shall
do justice to the unfortunate children of nature, may secure to the
members of our confederation their rights of sovereignty and of soil. As
an outline of a project to that effect, the views presented in the
report of the Secretary of War are recommended to the consideration of
Congress.
“The most important feature in the present policy of the Government, as
connected with this people, is to be found in the efforts that are
making to remove them beyond the limits of the States and organized
territories. A very extensive tract of country, lying to the west and
north of the Arkansas territory, has lately been set apart for the
colonization of the Indians.
“Let such of the emigrating Indians as choose it, continue as heretofore
to devote themselves to the chase in a country where their toils will
amply be rewarded. Let those who are willing to cultivate the arts of
civilisation be formed into a colony, consisting of distinct tribes or
communities, but placed contiguous to each other, and connected by
general laws, which shall reach the whole. Let the lands be apportioned
among families and individuals in severalty, to be held by the same
tenures by which we hold ours, with perhaps some temporary and wholesome
restraints on the power of alienation. Assist them in forming a code of
laws, adapted to a state of civilisation.
“In regard to such Indians as shall still remain within the States and
territories, and refuse to emigrate, let an arrangement be made with the
proper authorities of the States in which they are situated, for
partitioning out to them into severalty as much of their respective
reservations as shall be amply sufficient for agricultural purposes. Set
apart a tract proportioned in size to the number of Indians, to remain,
in common, as a refuge, and subject to all the municipal laws of the
state in which they reside. Let the remainder of the reservation be paid
for by those who hold the paramount right, at such prices as shall be
deemed, in reference to the uses which Indians are accustomed to make of
it, reasonable, and the proceeds to be applied for the benefit of those
of the tribe who emigrate after their establishment in the colony; or be
divided between those who emigrate and those who remain, as justice may
require.
“To the views herein presented, of the condition of the Indians, of the
prospects which await them, and of the only efficient remedy in their
power to seek, or in that of the government to apply, I take the liberty
of adding my own testimonial, founded on an intimate intercourse with
them for eighteen years, both personal and official, under every variety
of circumstances, in peace and war, and in very remote regions, as well
as within our own settlements. The principles laid down in these
extracts, are substantially the same as those which now regulate the
government in all their transactions with the Indians, when the question
of their permanent establishment, or removal, is brought under
discussion. So far as respects the emigrating Indians, this will clearly
appear by reference to the instructions of the commissioners now engaged
in the adjustment of all the unsettled matters connected with the great
plan of colonization.
“With regard, however, to those Indians who refuse to remove, it has not
been deemed expedient for the government, by its own act, either to
partition out to them the land necessary for their support, or to decide
upon the consideration to be allowed for the residue, and to direct its
appropriation. This, so far as regards the general government, has been,
and continues to be, the subject of conventional arrangement, in which
the parties, by mutual discussion, and compromise of opinion, arrive at
a satisfactory result. In these arrangements, where the parties desire
it, adequate tracts of land, in fee, with temporary and wholesome
restraints upon the right to sell, are secured to all who desire to
remain. That this system of guardianship is, however, founded upon a
just and intimate knowledge of Indian character, no one acquainted with
that character will question. I need not now enquire whether a practical
resort to the principles resulting from it will ever become necessary.
If it should, no doubt every arrangement which justice and humanity call
for, will be liberally made.
“In your message to the Senate, of February 22d, 1830, you explained
your views of the question of jurisdiction over the Indian tribes living
within the respective States and territories, and stated, that in your
opinion, and in the words of the above report, they were subject to the
municipal laws of the State in which they reside, in all cases where
such laws are extended over them.
“The progress of events, since 1828, has confirmed, if confirmation was
wanting, the correctness of these principles, and their adaptation to
the actual and prospective condition of the Indians. The circle of
civilisation and improvement has extended, and various tribes have
retired, or are retiring before it. The experience of the four years
which have intervened, does not afford one consolatory hope that the
insulated bands who have reserved and occupy tracts surrounded by our
settlements can permanently retain these possessions and prosper. There
are moral, political, and physical causes all in operation, which cannot
be counteracted, and which forbid such an expectation. And, in fact, the
whole history of our intercourse with our primitive people teaches no
one lesson more important than this; and it will be fortunate for their
posterity, and for our responsibility, if, in its practical application,
both parties should become satisfied that the system provided by the act
of May 28th, 1830, offers the only rational prospect of a durable and
happy residence for the Indians. A few individuals, almost always
half-breeds, and their connexions, engrossing the intelligence and means
of these small communities, may become assimilated to our institutions,
and eventually planted amongst us with safety. But this should never be
permitted at the sacrifice of more important interests, and to the utter
disregard of the fate which awaits the unfortunate mass of these tribes,
persuaded or almost compelled to remain where they must rapidly decline,
and at length disappear. And the causes which enacted this law are not
less obvious in their origin, than they are certain in their operation.
Their progress is onward, and regret them as we may and must, no human
power can arrest their march, or avert their consequences. These efforts
have been made for generations, and in every mode which wisdom and
philanthropy could suggest; and yet, in not one solitary instance has it
produced any permanent or general beneficial effect. And we may survey
our whole cultivated territory in the vain expectation of discovering
one aboriginal community, however small, which has withstood the
ceaseless pressure of civilisation, and which holds out the slightest
prospect of moral or physical improvement, or even of eventual
subsistence, for the great body of the individuals composing it. If such
a community exists, it is unknown to me; and, in fact, if one is
believed to exist, it is only by those who are unacquainted, with its
actual condition, and with the internal history of its wants, its
dissensions, and its oppressions.
“The Choctaw treaty of 1830, allowed that tribe three years to emigrate.
In 1831, about 5000 of them removed to their new possessions between the
Canadian and Red rivers. They are highly gratified with the climate and
country, and satisfied with the exchange they have made. From the
returns which have been received, it is estimated that about 7000 more
will cross the Mississippi this season, and the residue of the tribe,
amounting to about 6000, will follow the next.
“General Coffee has succeeded in concluding a treaty with the
Chickasaws, which will lead to their entire removal, and to their
location in the west. The basis of this treaty is different from any
heretofore assumed in our negotiations with the Indians. The whole value
of the country ceded is assigned to the Chickasaws, and the United
States become, in fact, trustees to make the necessary arrangements for
their benefit.
“It is stipulated that the ceded territory shall be surveyed and sold,
and the whole proceeds, deducting only the actual expenses, applied to
the various objects enumerated, connected with the temporary
subsistence, removal, and permanent establishment of these Indians. A
residuary fund is to be invested in some productive stock, and the
income to be annually appropriated for the public and private objects
stipulated in the treaty. A country for the residence of the tribe is to
be provided by themselves, and it is probable they will be able to make
a satisfactory arrangement for that purpose with the Choctaws, a kindred
people, who are in possession of a much larger district than is required
by their numbers.
“No pecuniary benefit will result to the United States from this treaty;
but should it be ratified, it will constitute an important era in our
Indian relations. It will probably lead to the establishment of the
principle that, in future cessions of land, the full value shall be
secured to the grantors, with such deductions only as may be necessary
to carry into effect the object of the treaties. The advantages to be
derived by the United States from these arrangements will be limited to
the removal of the Indians from their present unsuitable residences, and
to their establishment in a region where we may hope to see them
prosperous, contented, and improving. And it cannot be doubted but that
a course so consistent with the dictates of justice, and so honourable
to the national character, would be approved by public sentiment. Should
we hereafter discard all expectation of pecuniary advantage in our
purchases from the Indians, and confine ourselves to the great objects
of their removal and reestablishment, and take care that the proceeds of
the cessions are appropriated and applied to their benefit, and in the
most salutary manner, we should go far towards discharging the great
moral debt which has come down to us as an inheritance from the earlier
periods of our history, and which has been unfortunately increased
during successive generations by circumstances beyond our control. The
policy would not be less wise than just. The time has passed away, if it
ever existed, when a revenue derived from such a source was necessary to
the government. The remnant of our aboriginal race may well look for the
value, and that usefully applied, of the remnant of those immense
possessions which have passed from them to us, and left few substantial
evidences of permanent advantage. One great objection to a removal that
has been urged by the more discreet Indians, and by many of our own
citizens, who are honestly seeking their improvement, is the prospect,
judging by the past, that their location west of the Mississippi would
be temporary, as they would be soon pressed for new cessions, and would
yield, as they have heretofore yielded, to successive applications for
this purpose. Although the nature and objects of their removal, and the
spirit of the act of Congress which introduced the system, are opposed
to such attempts, still the apprehension is entertained, and has proved
injurious. Probably no course would better satisfy them upon this
subject than the introduction of a principle which would secure to them
the full value of the property, under all circumstances, thus lessening
in their view any wish on our part to acquire it, and ensuring to them,
if not the power and disposition to retain it, at least the means of
converting it to the greatest advantage.”
The policy of the United States with regard to the Indians is to place
them to the west of the Mississippi, and it has been so successful, that
a treaty, for the removal of the last body, was concluded at Chicago in
September, 1833, and in 1836 there will scarcely be a resident Indian to
the east of the Mississippi.
The Indians are a quiet inoffensive race, and generally conduct
themselves well towards the white people. The united tribes of Sacs and
Foxes, which inhabit the banks of the Mississippi north of Illinois, are
an exception, being a restless fierce people. They made war on the
United States in 1831, commencing hostilities in the neighbourhood of
Prairie des Chien. They created a good deal of alarm in the northern
part of Illinois and Michigan, but were easily subdued. Their chief,
Black Hawk, noticed at page 29, was taken prisoner, and, after two
years’ confinement, suffered to depart. The Sacs and Foxes have retired
beyond the Mississippi, and even ceded some territory to the west of the
river. The chastisement they got, and the increase of population at
Galena, will keep this tribe in subjection in time to come.
What the ultimate effect will be of removing the Indians to the west of
the Mississippi, I am at a loss to conjecture, and doubt if it will be
so beneficial as the United States’ Government seem to contemplate. Not
being fully aware of the causes alluded to in the report of the
secretary of war, which decrees the poor Indians residing amongst white
men to certain annihilation, it is unnecessary to speculate on their
removal, or what effects may come into operation in their new
territories. I believe, however, it is a fact that the Indians are
decreasing in number in the Canadas, as well as in the United States,
even after considerable advances in civilisation have taken place, and
Christianity obtained a footing amongst them. It is a common opinion
that the Indian tribes were extremely numerous in former times, but
there is no very good evidence of the fact. The French penetrated from
Detroit to New Orleans between 1670 and 1719, establishing trading ports
and villages in many parts of the valley of the Mississippi. At the
commencement of the eighteenth century the Sacs and Foxes made a
desperate effort to take the fort at Detroit from the French, and for
forty years subsequent to that period they caused great trouble and
embarrassment to them, which was terminated by a successful expedition
into the remote regions west of Green Bay.[9]
Footnote 9:
Secretary of War’s Report.
Had the Indians been very numerous in the valley of the Mississippi when
it was first discovered, they would not likely have established
villages, more especially when engaged in war with the Sacs and Foxes,
who reside still in the same regions, and are now, perhaps, more
powerful than at the time alluded to. The progress of the Indians
towards annihilation does not seem to have been rapid for 160 years, and
it is a melancholy reflection to think it is connected with civilisation
and the intercourse of the whites, and that their removal to the
wilderness and exclusion from white people, has been adopted as the
means of preserving the race. Leaving naturalists to determine the
properties belonging to colour, I shall simply remark, the dark man of
North America, like the dark rat of Britain, seems destined to be
exterminated by the light-coloured species.
CHAPTER X.
_Prairie Agriculture—Capital required—Crops and Prices—Wages of Labour
compared with Land and Produce in Illinois and Britain—Future
prospects—Sheep Husbandry—Illinois and Upper Canada—Illinois and
Britain—The Canadas and Illinois estimated by the standard of
Nature—Emigrant Information._
The agriculture of forest land in Illinois, is the same as in other
parts of America, but is seldom followed, the cultivation of the prairie
being so much more simple and profitable. It has formerly been observed,
that the grasses have strong creeping roots, and that six oxen are
required to plough the land for the first time. The plough which is used
in breaking up the prairie has a very broad share, which cuts a turf
seventeen or eighteen inches wide, by two or three in depth. The thinner
the turf is cut the less grass is found to grow afterwards, which must
be owing to the neck, or vital part of the plants, being near the
surface. After the first ploughing the soil becomes friable, and is
easily cultivated. The breaking up of the prairie is often performed by
contract at $2 per acre. It is common to drop Indian corn into every
third furrow of the first ploughing, and the ground is not afterwards
operated upon until the crop is reaped, when it is sown with wheat, and
simply harrowed. Thus two important crops are obtained by once ploughing
and harrowing. A bushel of Indian corn was stated to be sufficient seed
for ten acres, and half a bushel of wheat sows one acre. The first crop
of Indian corn commonly yields fifty bushels per acre, and the following
wheat crop twenty-five bushels. When Indian corn is not sown as a first
crop, the ground is sown with wheat, which is covered by the harrow.
Grass seldom springs after the land has been ploughed, and weeds do not
appear for some years afterwards. When Indian corn is grown on land
which has been some time cultivated, it is planted on hills four feet
square, the intervals being ploughed in both directions; and a boy with
a horse is capable of managing the cleaning process of fifty acres.
There is but little diversity in prairie agriculture, which is almost
entirely confined to the growing of wheat, oats, and Indian corn.
Natural herbage affords both hay and pasturage, and the supply is at
present inexhaustible. In the tract which I travelled, the seeds of
clovers, or artificial grass, never had been sown. But there can be no
doubt of the soil and climate being capable of producing in abundance
almost every description of plant.
A great many cattle are reared on the prairies which are occupied in
common by the inhabitants. The grass was quite withered when I saw it,
and the cattle were in good condition, although by no means fat. They
are seldom taken under cover during winter, and when snow is on the
ground they are foddered with hay. It is customary in some parts to
fatten oxen with Indian corn during winter; and the fine animals seen at
New York, and alluded to in page 32, had been fed on Indian corn for two
successive winters; it is daily strewed on the ground to the best of the
animals; a secondary description succeeds to what the first may have
left, and swine are allowed to pick up the refuse. It is by means of the
Indian corn of the western states that the people of New Orleans, the
cities on the Atlantic, and the Canadas are chiefly supplied with salted
beef and pork.
There is perhaps no country in the world where a farmer can commence
operations with so small an outlay of money, and so soon obtain a
return, as in Illinois. This arises from the cheapness of land, and the
facility with which it is cultivated, and will appear more evident from
the following statement:—“Suppose a settler with sufficient capital to
purchase and stock a farm and maintain himself for six months. The farm
to consist of two hundred acres, thirty-five of which being forest and
the remainder prairie. If the purchase was made in spring, the expense
might be thus stated:—
Purchasing 200 acres of land, at $1¼ $250
Fencing two fields of 40 acres with an eight rail fence, 80
Ploughing by contract 80 acres, at $2 160
Seed for 80 acres of Indian corn, 10 bushels at 15 cents, 1.50
Cutting and harvesting stalks of Indian corn, and harvesting the
crop, at $3 per acre, 240
Seed for 80 acres of Wheat, sown after Indian corn, 45 bushels
at 45 cents, 20.25
Harrowing Wheat, 20
Cows 4, at $8, young Cattle 8, at $5, Pigs $10 82
Buildings and household furniture, 600
Maintenance of family for six months, and purchasing seeds of
vegetables, potatoes, and poultry, 150.25
—————
Total, $1604
With an expenditure of $1604, or L.340, 17s. sterling, is obtained the
dairy produce of 4 cows and the improvement of 8 cattle grazing on the
prairie, and 3200 bushels of Indian corn, besides vegetables and the
improvement of a lot of pigs and poultry.
The attention of the settler and his family is supposed to be confined
to the cultivation of vegetables, tending the cows and pigs, and
planting and husking Indian corn.
In the spring of the second year, 80 acres additional would be
fenced, ploughed, planted with Indian corn, and harvested at
the same expense as the first year $481.50
Harvesting 80 acres of wheat at $3 240
——————
Total 721.50
Supposing the Indian corn of the second year equal to the first crop,
the wheat to yield 22 ½ bushels per acre, and cost 2 ½ bushels in
thrashing—the farmer in eighteen months after settling would have
expended $2325.50, or L.484, 4s. 6d. sterling. In the same time he would
have reaped 6,400 bushels of Indian corn, and 1600 bushels of wheat, and
enjoyed abundance of vegetables, dairy produce, beef, pork, and poultry.
With this produce and expenditure the farmer and his family do not
perform any laborious work. It is presumed the farm would, with some
ploughing, to destroy weeds amongst the Indian corn, afterwards continue
to yield yearly 3200 bushels of Indian corn, and 1800 bushels of wheat.
The data of the preceding statements are unfavourable for industrious
and frugal emigrants, being framed for a person disliking to work; and
Mr Ferguson’s estimate of buildings, and maintaining a family having
been taken, which is too high for ordinary settlers. The crops are
estimated considerably lower than what I was told the land of Illinois
generally yields; but from knowing how prone farmers are to speak of
good crops, and conceal indifferent ones, I have made considerable
deductions from the accounts received, with the view of avoiding
exaggeration.
If an industrious man were to purchase the farm, and perform a
considerable portion of the work himself, the result would be different.
A saving might also be effected on the buildings and living to the
extent of $250. If to this sum be added $150 for work performed
personally above the other case, the same produce would be obtained with
an outlay of L.389 sterling. A person who would be content at first with
cheap houses, little household furniture, and labour with his own hands,
might reap the same produce with an outlay of L.300 sterling. The
expense of buildings and living until a crop is reaped, must in a great
measure depend on the individual himself, and the nature of his family.
But the advantages of the country will be best seen by simply viewing
the produce of an acre of land for two years, and the cost of obtaining
it.
Purchasing an acre of land, $1.25
Ploughing, 2
Seed of Indian corn, 0.02
Harvesting, &c. 3
Seed for Wheat crop, 0.50
Harrowing Wheat, 0.25
Harvesting Wheat, 3
——————
Total, $10.02
With an outlay of $10.02, or L.2, 2s. 7d. sterling, there is obtained 40
bushels of Indian corn, and 22½ bushels of wheat.
A person with little capital might commence farming on a smaller scale
than has been taken for illustration; government selling lots of 80
acres. Supposing a farm of this extent, consisting of fifteen acres of
forest, and the remainder prairie, the expense would stand thus:—
Purchasing 80 acres, at $1 ¼ $100
Fencing into two fields of 30 acres, and one of 5 acres for a
garden, 80
Ploughing by contract 35 acres, at $2 70
Seed for 30 acres of Indian corn, .60
Vegetable seeds and potatoes, 10
A Cow $8, pigs and poultry $4 12
Assistance in harvesting corn, 20
Seed for 30 acres of Wheat, 15
Harrowing Wheat, 7.50
Buildings and furniture, 150
Household expenses, 40
Ploughing 30 acres in spring, at $2 60
2 Oxen for ploughing and harrowing, 14
Assistance in harvesting Wheat, 30
————
Total, $609
With an expenditure of $609, or about L.130 sterling, and the farmer’s
labour, 2,400 bushels of Indian corn and 675 bushels of wheat would be
obtained, besides the produce of a cow, vegetables, pigs, and poultry
for family use.
Notwithstanding the enormous quantity of produce exhibited by the
preceding statements, high wages and low prices prevent much money being
realized. By referring to the statement of the produce of an acre of
land for two years, it will be seen the cost is $10.02, and Indian corn
being estimated at 15 cents per bushel, and wheat at 45 cents, the
produce amounts to $6 and $10.12 ½ for Indian corn and wheat
respectively; or the outlay is L.2, 2s. 7d., and the produce is L.3,
10s. 7d., subject to the charges of fencing, thrashing, and marketing.
Every thing, however, has been done by contract, and in future the
purchase of the ground and part of the expense of ploughing would be
saved. In the view there is a profit on hired labour, and an industrious
man would obtain almost the whole of the produce by labouring himself.
In a country where Nature is so bountiful and land so abundant and
cheap, the wages of labour must necessarily be high. Accordingly, an
ordinary mechanic obtains $1 per day, with board, including washing; and
superior workmen, engineers, and millwrights, get from $2 to $3. Farm
labourers are engaged at from $100 to $120 a-year. Female house-servants
obtain $1 in private families, and from $2 to $2½ a-week in hotels. As
compared with the prices of produce and land, wages may be stated thus:—
If an ordinary mechanic work five days in the week he will earn
throughout the year, besides board, $260; or of Indian corn about 1733
bushels; or of wheat about 580 bushels; or of beef about 13,000 lb.; or
of land about 200 acres.
An ordinary farm labourer will get during the year, besides his board,
$100; or of Indian corn about 667 bushels; or of wheat about 222
bushels; or of beef about 5000 lb.; or of land about eighty acres; which
is a sufficient extent of surface for any labouring man to possess.
Female house-servants in private families get in the year $52, which
would purchase forty acres of land, and in hotels what would purchase
eighty acres of land.
How very different is the situation of farm labourers in England,
Scotland, and Ireland, compared with those in Illinois. Supposing the
weekly wages of labourers to be 10s., 8s., and 3s. 6d., without board,
in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, and they do not exceed
these sums, the Englishman will earn during the year about seventy
bushels of wheat, or of beef about 1560 lbs.—the Scotchman about
sixty-two bushels of wheat, or of beef about 1400 lbs.—the Irishman
about thirty bushels of wheat, or of beef about 750 lbs. But when the
board of the workman, or simply what he himself would consume, is taken
from these numbers, they will appear quite insignificant compared with
the wages of Illinois.
An ordinary farm labourer in Illinois gets the value of eighty acres of
land yearly: In Britain, when due allowance is made for the board of the
labourer, he does not get one-tenth of an acre of good land. When wages
are compared with land, the farm labourer of Illinois is about 800 times
better rewarded than in Britain.
The wages of female servants, compared with the price of land, are also
remarkable. I am sure there are many of my excellent countrywomen who,
if they could reach Illinois, would cheerfully earn a farm for their
fathers, husbands, or lovers, by engaging in service. Perhaps in almost
every case individuals, on their arrival in the country, would act
prudently by working for hire for the first twelve months, even if they
possess a little capital. By so doing, the knowledge which they would
obtain of the country, and the intercourse of the people, would perhaps
be of as much importance to them as the increase of funds. In the case
of a family without funds, the members might separate entirely or
partially, as circumstances admitted, and afterwards again unite when
they had obtained the means of purchasing and farming land.
The land in Illinois to which the comparison of wages refers, is of fine
quality, situated in the best climate of America, and, considered as a
workshop, is not greatly surpassed by any portion of the earth. The view
which I have taken of the reward of farm labourers in Illinois and
Britain may appear excessive, yet it will bear investigation. The
British labourer’s reward of one-tenth of an acre would yield a mere
trifle annually; but the Illinois labourer’s reward of eighty acres
might afford sustenance for himself and family for ever. The man who
gives his services one year for hire in Illinois, and invests his wages
in the purchase of land, obtains the services of nature on a large scale
in perpetuity, and by leading a life of industry and economy for five or
six years, he would be enabled to purchase and sufficiently stock eighty
acres of land, which would for ever support himself and family.
Illinois may justly be called “the poor man’s country,” if any part of
the world deserves the title. The extraordinary reward which the
labourer receives, and the bountifulness of Nature, are favourable to
the poor, and no person who has health and strength, and leads an
industrious and a virtuous life, can continue without the means of
subsistence in Illinois.
The future prospects of Illinois appear to be highly favourable.
Referring to what has been stated regarding the progress of wealth at p.
400, and the channels of trade at p. 424–5, it will be found that almost
all the elements of prosperity exist in the country. The soil,
grass-covered surface, climate, internal facilities of commerce,
cheapness and extent of land, and the systems of governing and educating
the people, are not surpassed by any other portion of America, and
inhabitants are alone wanting to complete its greatness.
The price of Government land being the same over the United States, the
prairies of Illinois will be preferred by all judicious settlers to the
forests which lie nearer the Atlantic, while the arrangements which have
been made with the Indians will tend for a time to check population from
proceeding to the west of the districts already surveyed. The advantages
of the country have only been made public of late years, and less seems
to be known regarding it in the eastern portions of the United States
and the Canadas than in Britain. Emigrants have, however, been streaming
in to Illinois for a year or two from the different parts of Europe and
the eastern parts of America, and their number is likely to increase. I
have frequently alluded to the anxiety of people in the eastern States
and the Canadas to sell their lands. This desire proceeds from the
advantages of a prairie country, in which many of the farmers in other
portions of America obtain better farms than those which they formerly
possessed, and at a twentieth part of the price at which they sell their
original ones. There is consequently a class of comparatively wealthy
settlers attracted to the west, independent of the natural movement of
the United States people, alluded to at p. 400, 401. But however great
the influx of population may be, there is sufficient room for all who
are likely to desire a settlement. Illinois being about the size of
England, might furnish a greater supply of food, from the general
superiority of its soil, and seems to me to be nearly capable of
sustaining the whole inhabitants of England in addition to its present
population, or nearly seventy times the inhabitants it now possesses.
The settlement of the prairies in the western parts of the United States
will affect the whole population of the Union. The profits of farming in
the present state of the country regulate the wages of labour generally,
and the facility with which prairie land is cultivated compared to
forest land, will attract the operatives of every profession, and
thereby have a tendency to keep up wages. Although the price of forest
and prairie land is the same, the greater productiveness of the latter,
and small capital required to bring it into a state of cultivation, will
keep down the price of the necessaries of life by furnishing a greater
supply. Thus the prairies of the west, by attracting population from the
eastern States, will have a tendency to keep up the wages of labour
there, and prevent a rise in the price of farm produce in the thickly
peopled parts of the country.
The inexhaustible supply of coal in Illinois is a strong feature in the
future greatness of the country, both as enabling the whole surface to
be devoted to the production of human food, and furnishing fuel for
culinary and manufacturing purposes. From the natural advantages of the
country, and consequent great reward of industry, population will be
attracted to it, and manufactures of all kinds will either spring up
within the State, or the communication with the cities on the Atlantic
will become more accessible than it is at present. The towns of
Pittsburg and Buffalo seem likely to become the great depots of produce
passing between the eastern and western States. Pittsburg is situated at
the head of the steam-boat navigation of the river Ohio—it is the chief
seat of hardware manufactures in the United States, and has been termed
the Birmingham of America. Pittsburg already communicates with the city
of Philadelphia by a railway and canal, and a railway is forming to
connect it with Baltimore. There is also, I believe, a canal in progress
to open a communication between Pittsburg and the Erie canal,
unconnected with lake Erie. Buffalo is situated at the junction of the
Erie canal with lake Erie, and is one of the best commercial situations
in the United States, being connected with the country to the westward
by the great lakes and canals, with New York by the Hudson and Erie
canal, and it will also soon communicate with Boston by a railway. These
two towns are likely to become the centres of diverging lines of
railroads and other modes of communication between the eastern and
western States, which form the only means of preventing the depopulation
of the countries on the Atlantic, as the abundance and cheapness of food
in the west would soon induce manufacturers to emigrate and establish
themselves there.
It may become a question, at no very remote period, whether the
communication between the eastern and western States will be cheaper by
water conveyance or railroads. The waters are shut by frost for a
portion of the year, the navigation of canals is necessarily slow, and
that of rivers often uncertain from want of water, and at all times
expensive by the tear and wear of vessels in struggling against the
stream. On the other hand, the level surface is admirably fitted for
railroads, and the western countries abound in coal and iron. There is
no way of so effectually connecting the east and west as by means of
railroads. Government commenced a national road, the construction of
which has been suspended by President Jackson, to extend from Washington
to Jefferson on the Missouri, a distance of nearly 1000 miles, and
running through the prairie country. The funds arising from the sale of
land might easily form a railroad between Jefferson and Pittsburg, which
would be connected with the seaport towns on the Atlantic.
The value of farm produce and land in the different sections of the
country will be affected in opposite ways by the opening of the
communication between the east and west. By lessening the expense of
transport, a greater quantity of produce will flow from the west to the
east, and there will be less difference in price, either by produce
falling in the east or rising in the west. If prices fall in the east,
the value of land will fall there; and if prices rise in the west, the
value of land will increase there. Facilitating the intercourse between
the countries will extend the market for western produce, and operate
like an influx of inhabitants; and the natural effects will be, a rise
in the value of produce and land in that quarter.
The west will be farther benefited by the opening of communication
lowering the price of the manufactures and luxuries of the east. In a
very few years, the prices of Illinois and New York will vary only
according to the expense of transport from one place to the other; and
the difference will annually decrease with an increase of traffic and a
facility of communication.
The prices of wheat and Indian corn included in the preceding
statements, represent the general prices in Illinois at the time of my
visit; and they were then low from the want of commercial population. A
change in this respect was, however, then taking place, which has since
progressed. Steam grist-mills have been erected at Jacksonville and
other places, and pork-killers from Cincinnati[10] have established
themselves at Alton. Commerce has followed agriculture, and the
consequent competition must have the effect of enhancing the price of
farm produce. With an unlimited range of pasturage for the rearing of
cattle, and Indian corn at fifteen cents, or seven-pence-halfpenny
Sterling per bushel, the farmer might comfortably live by stock, without
cultivating any portion of his land.
Footnote 10:
In 1833, 300,000 pigs were killed at Cincinnati.
Sheep husbandry has received considerable attention in some parts of the
United States of late years, although it is generally imperfectly
understood. The chief object with flockmasters has been to improve the
quality of wool, without regard to the carcass of the animal, wool being
much dearer than mutton. Many of the sheep are of the Saxony or Merino
blood, or a mixture of these breeds; and their wool is now selling at
two shillings and sixpence sterling per pound. This high price is owing
to sheep husbandry being foreign to the habits and tastes of American
farmers, and the limited funds and cleared surface possessed by forest
settlers; and, perhaps, a thorough knowledge of the management of sheep
can only be acquired from practice. From these causes, the demand for
wool in the United States, with a rapidly increasing population, will,
in all probability, long exceed the supply.
There is a general belief in Britain, that the American population
dislike mutton, which is, however, certainly not the case. I saw many a
leg of mutton discussed at table during my tour; and was often assured
that good hind quarters of mutton sold as high as the best beef. Good
beef is, however, to be had in almost every village, while good mutton
is a rare commodity, which is partly owing to the breeds of sheep, and
their want of food during winter.
In a communication addressed to the State Agricultural Society of New
York, by Henry D. Grove, who resides in Rensseller county, and is a
native of Germany, Mr Grove has, by his own account, devoted much
attention to wool-growing in Germany, and for five years in the State of
New York. In both countries his flock consisted of full-blooded Saxon
sheep, and he considers his situation in America, in about forty-two and
a half degrees of north latitude, superior to Saxony for growing fine
wool. I have no means of judging between the merits of Saxony and the
State of New York as wool-growing countries; but from what came under my
notice, I think there is no obstacle to sheep-farming in America but
what arises from the severity of the winter, which might be obviated by
providing shelter and food for the animals.
Mr Grove considers sweet dry pastures, pure water, and pure air, as the
chief essentials of wool-growing; and as these exist in many parts of
Illinois, and may perhaps be made universal by digging wells, there can
be little doubt of its capabilities for sheep husbandry. Not having seen
a sheep while in Illinois, I cannot determine if the prairie grasses are
calculated to maintain this animal; but as horses and cattle thrive well
on them, it is probable sheep will likewise do so. If, however, this
should be found not to be the case, it would be an easy matter to
convert the prairie into pasturage, composed of clovers and other
grasses, by sowing their seeds. The winters in the southern parts of
Illinois are so short, that no great quantity of food would be required
to maintain sheep while the ground was covered with snow; and the
facility with which Indian corn is raised, would render a supply easily
attained, if the cultivation of turnip was found unsuitable. There can
be no doubt of potatoes and turnips being easily preserved during
winter.
I have no certain means of ascertaining the duration of an Illinois
winter in latitude 39. Mr Stuart says he found the cattle in this
meridian, on reaching the State, fat on the 29th April, but I fear this
is too favourable to the climate. I shall, however, assume the ground to
be covered with snow for the period of two months, during which it will
be necessary to feed sheep artificially. Mr Grove, in the communication
formerly alluded to, says, one lb. of oil-cake is equal to two lbs. of
good hay; and that for twelve or thirteen years he found his “flock did
extremely well whenever he proportioned their food according to
nutritiousness, and in such a manner as that two lbs. of good hay would
give to each animal.” It may be assumed that Indian corn, which weighs
about sixty lbs. per bushel, is as nutritious as oil-cake for feeding
sheep. An acre of Indian corn therefore, yielding forty bushels, will
maintain forty sheep during winter, with the assistance of straw; and if
hay or potatoes were given, a smaller quantity would suffice. If the
Indian corn were bought, and the sheep allowed one lb. daily, each would
cost seven-pence halfpenny sterling for two months keeping.
Much of the prairies of Illinois cannot be stocked with sheep until the
different varieties of the wolf are extirpated, which will be easily
effected with an increase of population, and it is only in the
neighbourhood of well-peopled places, and with care during night, that
they can be safely kept at present. The time will, however, soon arrive
when much of the unsold prairies will be covered with sheep, and then
perhaps almost the whole surface of occupied farms will be devoted to
providing winter-food for the flocks.
The value of wool is remarkable, compared with land. Suppose the fleece
of a Merino sheep weighs three lbs., and sells at sixty cents per lb.,
the wool of one sheep will nearly purchase an acre and a half of land.
Wool could be transported from Illinois to the eastern States for three
or four cents a-pound, and there can be no question that it costs less
labour in producing and carrying to market than any other agricultural
commodity whatever.
The climate and soil of Illinois seem favourable to every description of
agriculture. The luxuriance and productiveness of Indian corn has been
noticed at page 394. If this crop were succeeded by wheat, accompanied
by clover sown in spring, the herbage of which to be eaten by sheep in
autumn after the wheat is reaped, and ploughed down for manure to Indian
corn in the following spring, I have no doubt alternate crops of wheat
and Indian corn might be grown without the aid of manures.
In whatever point of view Illinois is regarded, as adapted for herds and
flocks, for wheat and India corn, for manufactures and commerce, or for
the abode of population generally, it will be found to be one of the
most favoured portions of North America, and with the exception of
population, possessing all the elements of future prosperity and
greatness. Time will supply inhabitants, which the want of at present,
however, forms one of the many advantages of the country for
agricultural emigration.
When contrasting Illinois and Upper Canada, I shall not again allude to
the governments of the countries, or to their channels of trade, but
confine myself chiefly to their agricultural peculiarities.
The most northerly portions of Illinois lie in the same latitude with
the most southerly parts of Upper Canada; and on a general view of the
countries, the one is four degrees to the north of the other. After
considering the different published accounts of an American winter, I
have been led to conclude, that between thirty-five and fifty degrees of
north latitude, the length of winter increases nearly two weeks with
each degree of latitude, consequently the winter of Illinois may be
stated about two months shorter than that of Upper Canada. Then, in
point of climate, Illinois has greatly the advantage in maturing all the
valuable products of the soil, and by affording time for cultivating the
farm properly. Live stock will also suffer much less during winter, and
the artificial supplies of food necessary for this season, are much
easier attained.
The settler of Upper Canada has to struggle with the forest before he
obtains a site for his house. If he ventures to keep a cow, she must
browse on weeds and leaves of trees in summer, and in winter on the
boughs of felled trees; the milk and butter which she yields is of the
worst quality, and scarcely repays the trouble of roaming after her in
the woods. A pig and poultry cannot be maintained at first, and many
years must pass away before the farm can furnish mutton and wool for
family use. Trees must be cut down, chopped into logs, and burned before
even a garden can be formed. The first crops suffer both from the
effects of frost and the want of a circulation of air. The plough cannot
be profitably used until eight years after the forest is cut down;
during the greater part of this period the harrow and scythe move
amongst blackened stumps, and there is difficulty in growing sufficient
food for a family.
The settler of Illinois places his house on the skirts of the forest or
on the open field, as fancy may dictate. The prairie furnishes summer
and winter-food for any number of cattle and sheep, and poultry and pigs
shift for themselves until the crops ripen. With the preliminary of
fencing, the plough enters the virgin soil, which in a few months
afterwards yields a most abundant crop of Indian corn, and on its
removal every agricultural operation may be executed with facility. The
first crops are excellent, and seldom suffer from atmospheric effects.
Pastoral, arable, or mixed husbandry, may be at once adopted, and
produce of all kinds obtained in the utmost profusion.
In Upper Canada the settler is immersed in the forest with roads that
are passable for heavy carriages only when frozen. The Illinois settler
enjoys a prospect of wood and plain, and the open prairie affords good
roads at all times when the weather is dry. In Upper Canada no part of
the surface is productive which has not been cleared. In Illinois the
whole of a prairie farm is productive without being cultivated. In Upper
Canada the forest settler cannot at first produce his own food, and
lives for a time on flour and salt provisions. In Illinois the settler
at once raises on his farm almost every thing he can consume. In Upper
Canada the farmer is not fully repaid for his first operations until the
end of six or seven years. In Illinois the farmer is repaid for his
first operations in course of a few months. The farmer’s reward in Upper
Canada is many years distant, and in Illinois it is almost immediate. In
short, the farmer in Upper Canada at first finds difficulty in growing a
sufficiency of produce for his own use, and the Illinois farmer
difficulty in consuming his produce.
The positions which I have advanced regarding the farming of the two
countries, will appear evident from figures. By consulting pages 117 and
375, it will be found that the expense of bringing an acre of wheat to
maturity in Upper Canada amounts to $.24, exclusive of harvesting,
thrashing, and marketing the crop. The produce cannot be obtained
earlier than eighteen months after entering into possession of the land,
and will not exceed in general cases eighteen bushels per acre. By
referring to page 448 it will be found, that the expense of raising a
crop of Indian corn and wheat on the prairies of Illinois is stated at
$4.02, to which $1 must be added for fencing, making $5.02 for both
crops, exclusive of harvesting, thrashing, and marketing. The crops will
be obtained in eighteen months after entry, and consist of forty bushels
of Indian corn and 22½ bushels of wheat, or, in other words, the farmer,
with about one-fifth of the labour or outlay on an acre in Illinois,
will obtain more than double the produce he could get in the same time
in Upper Canada. But if the calculations were extended to the eighth
year, the difference of produce would still appear to be greater. During
this period an acre in Illinois would, with good management, continue to
yield nearly the same produce; while the land in Upper Canada, after
yielding two successive wheat crops, would be allowed to produce grass
until the stumps rotted. Grass is of little value in Canada, unless near
villages where there is a demand for hay, and it would be unfair to
allow any thing for the land remaining in pasturage for five years, as
in this state it would only be on a footing with the uncultivated
prairie. Then, during eight years, an acre of land in Upper Canada would
yield thirty-six bushels of wheat, and in Illinois 160 bushels of Indian
corn and ninety bushels of wheat.
The result of one acre does not fairly exhibit the real advantages of
Illinois. It has formerly been stated that settlers in Canada seldom
clear more than six or seven acres in a year; but to place things in a
favourable view, I shall suppose ten acres to be cleared, with
assistance in logging and burning. In Illinois an industrious settler
would have little difficulty, with the occasional assistance of a boy or
two, in cultivating fifty acres. On this data, the Upper Canada farmer,
at the end of eighteen months, would raise 180 bushels of wheat, and the
farmer in Illinois 2000 bushels of Indian corn and 1125 bushels of
wheat. During this period the Upper Canada farmer would neither have
grass for cow nor sheep, and perhaps scarcely food for a pig; while in
Illinois stock of all kinds may have been kept.
In assuming wheat in Upper Canada to yield eighteen bushels per acre
when land is first cleared, and wheat in Illinois 22½ bushels, the soil
and climate are supposed to be the same in both countries, and twenty
per cent has been deducted from the wheat of Upper Canada on account of
the surface occupied by stumps. Should it be contended that my estimate
of the Upper Canada wheat crop is too low, I would argue my estimate of
the Illinois crop is still more so, and maintain, that whatever produce
the first wheat crops of Upper Canada may yield, those of Illinois must
be twenty per cent better, from the ground being free from stumps.
Indian corn cannot be grown on a large scale amongst stumps; and even
after they are removed, the effect of soil and climate will render the
crop nearly fifty per cent better in Illinois than in Upper Canada.
Mr Ferguson’s calculations seem to me too favourable to Upper Canada;
yet if the expenses of harvesting, thrashing, and teaming be added to
the expenses of the first wheat crop, as stated by him, the value of the
produce, which I think he has greatly overrated, falls L.1, 7s. 6d.
short of the expense it has cost in raising; and no statement which I
received made the value of the first crop cover the expense of producing
it. It is this circumstance which renders the farmers of Upper Canada so
poor after first settlement, and time and frugality the only means of
escaping from their wretchedness. It is this circumstance, joined to the
effects of accumulating interest, which renders inevitable the ruin of
every farmer who purchases on credit, and stamps with folly the recent
proceedings of government in disposing of land. In Illinois the first
crops more than repay the expense of raising them.
The commercial state of the two countries corroborates the nature of the
farming. A newly settled district in Upper Canada continues to import
flour and salt provisions for many years. In Illinois every farmer, soon
after establishing himself, sells produce of all descriptions. The whole
population of Upper Canada, with exception of those on the rivers
Detroit and Thames, may be said to be fed with fresh or salted animal
food from the United States. The difficulties of first settlement in a
densely wooded country are so great that the inhabitants of Upper Canada
could not have existed without the money of Britain, and the provisions
of the western United States.
Viewing soil as a workshop, the prairie farm of Illinois is superior to
the forest one in Upper Canada, not only from containing a better supply
of the materials forming climate, as described at pages 327, 328, but
from being fitted by nature for immediate operations. Place a prepared
workshop, and materials for forming another, before any manufacturer
whatever, and ask him whether he would commence his profession in the
erected shop, or prepare one with his own hands. Such is the situation
of the industrious emigrant farmer with regard to the Illinois prairie
and Upper Canada forest. If choice is made of the latter, the farmer is
like a manufacturer who would erect a workshop with his own hands. The
forest settler, after suffering privations, undergoing much toil, and
patiently waiting till the stumps decay, will at length find himself in
something like the situation of the prairie farmer on his first
settlement. Nay, the first ploughing of forest land after the stumps
have decayed, is more expensive than breaking up prairie land, and the
succeeding crops greatly inferior. I had no opportunity of forming an
opinion of the crops immediately after the stumps decay, but a friend,
capable of judging, told me a field which I saw preparing under such
circumstances, on the banks of the Otanabee, in the Newcastle district,
produced a poor wheat crop in 1834, and that such crops will not average
more than fifteen bushels per acre. A person in the township of
Hinchinbrook, Lower Canada, prepared and sowed a field of stump land
with wheat in 1834, the crop of which did not cover the expense of
raising and carrying it to market. The capitalist who clears Canadian
forest in preference to farming the prairie of Illinois, makes a
sacrifice of property, and the industrious farmer who follows the same
course throws away ten or twelve years of his labour.
However theoretical the view which I have ventured to take of the first
settlers in the two countries may appear to some minds, it will be found
to accord with practice. Throughout all my peregrinations in Upper
Canada, I did not visit or see a settlement of seven or eight years’
standing possessing a stack nor a herd of cattle. Ten or twelve acres of
wheat, which was put into a barn, formed the utmost extent of that crop
on one farm, and the patches of Indian corn seldom exceeded a rood. The
tables of the farmers were indifferently stored, fried salt pork from
the United States being served up in many houses twenty-one times
a-week. In Illinois the state of things was very different with new
settlers. Wheat and Indian corn were seen every where in abundance, and
the tables were amply stored with fresh provisions. In Upper Canada salt
pork was the standard dish at all meals, and in Illinois salted meat was
never placed before me.
A British farmer can have little idea of the Canadian forest from the
trees of his own country, which are mere saplings compared with those of
Upper Canada; and his notions of drilled crops and rotations will ill
accord with the disgusting black stumps which disfigure the fields. In
Illinois he may at once pursue any system and perform any operation. The
best breeds of cattle and sheep will find suitable food in the country,
and the most improved implements of husbandry may be employed. A reaping
machine was used at Jacksonville in 1834, and it is on the lawned
surface of the prairie where this and almost every other description of
agricultural machinery can be introduced with advantage. On the forest
farm of Canada machinery cannot be used, nor stock kept.
Since the prairies of Illinois possess such advantages over Upper Canada
in the present state of agriculture, what may not be expected from them
with the progress of science? Already the crops on nearly one hundred
farms in East Lothian are thrashed by means of steam, and its
application to other operations will in all probability be soon
effected. The coalfield of Illinois is inexhaustible. With steam power
to cultivate the prairie, and to reap, collect the crops of grass and of
wheat, and to separate the grain from the straw, who can set limits to
the quantity of human sustenance which Illinois is capable of affording?
If ever there is such a place as the granary of the world, it will be
the prairies of the western United States of America.
It was difficult for me to form an opinion of the price of wheat in
Upper Canada when I was in the country, the accounts being so
contradictory, and sometimes stated in cash, and sometimes in store pay.
I have stated the expenses and merchants’ profit of sending wheat from
the township of Nichol to Britain at 3s. 7d. sterling per bushel, and
perhaps the average expense of the province will exceed 3s. The wheat of
Upper Canada will sell as high in the London market as the best English
wheat. The farmer of Upper Canada must, therefore, sell his wheat about
24s. a-quarter below the highest London prices. The Illinois farmer has
different markets for his wheat, and can send it to Canada if he
pleases. I have no means of calculating the expense of transport from
Illinois to Canada, which cannot, however, be very heavy, from the
canals being public property, and the dues consequently moderate. The
greater produce of land in Illinois will, however, more than pay the
expense of sending it to Canada, and I consider myself justified in
saying that a farm in Illinois will at all times yield more produce than
one in Upper Canada, and that produce realize more money.
The prices of farm produce being high in Upper Canada is disadvantageous
to the labouring settler who enters on a forest farm, because, being
unable for several years to grow a sufficiency of food for family
consumpt, the dearness of what he purchases exhausts his funds. So long
as a farmer consumes all the produce which he grows, prices do not in
the least affect him, and this is too often overlooked in the Canadas,
where it is so difficult at first to grow produce. Fresh beef is said
occasionally to fetch twenty-five cents per pound at Quebec, while it
can be had in some parts of Illinois at three cents. The settler at
Quebec would feel the high price of beef a hardship, and perhaps never
reap the benefit of it from the difficulty of fattening cattle in his
unfavourable situation. The true value of a crop is expressed by the
price and quantity of produce, diminished by the expense it costs in
raising and marketing.
I also found difficulty in ascertaining the yearly wages of an
agricultural labourer in Upper Canada, from the system of cash and store
pay, and the difference of summer and winter wages. Mr Somerville of
Whitby states the cash wages of the best labourer in Upper Canada at $80
a-year, while in Illinois they are $100. Whether these sums are
perfectly accurate, is of no great consequence, as it is universally
admitted over all Canada that wages are lower there than in the United
States. Indeed it cannot be otherwise, produce being shared between the
farmer and labourer, and land in Upper Canada yielding so much less than
in Illinois.
Labour is more easily obtained in Upper Canada than in Illinois, the
difficulty with which forest land is cultivated preventing labourers
farming on their own account. Whether the agricultural capitalist
derives more profit from employing labour in Upper Canada than in
Illinois, I cannot satisfactorily determine; but from what has been
formerly stated, the investment of capital in clearing forest in Upper
Canada does not in the first instance pay, while farming the prairie is
at once remunerating. From the great return of produce, it is probable
both the capitalist and labourer are better rewarded in Illinois than in
Upper Canada. The higher wages in Illinois, however, bring the farmer
and hired labourer nearer each other in the command of the necessaries
of life than in Canada. But this circumstance ought to form a source of
enjoyment to the capitalist, who should prize the bounty of God the more
from knowing it is also amply shared by the labourer. The landholder of
Upper Canada, who sets himself down in the forest, toils hard for the
first nine or ten years, and cannot command the same comforts and
necessaries of life as the labourer in Illinois. I refer to page 450 for
evidence of the truth of this remark.
As it is the ambition of every agricultural labourer who leaves Britain
for America to become a landholder there, I shall endeavour to show what
are the chances of attaining his object in Upper Canada and Illinois.
Supposing forest land in Upper Canada to be $3 per acre, and a
labourer’s wages $80 a-year with board, he will get the value of about
twenty-seven acres of land. In Illinois, land costs $1¼, and wages being
$100, the labourer gets the value of eighty acres. But taking into
account what has been stated at page 460 regarding the difference of
expense in raising crops on forest and prairie land, I am justified in
asserting the wages of agricultural labour to be about thirty times
higher in Illinois than in Upper Canada, when estimated in reference to
land and what it can be made to produce in the respective countries.
Purchasing extensive tracts of forest land is a hazardous speculation in
Upper Canada, because it is now selling far above its intrinsic value to
actual settlers. The soil continues unproductive while the forest
remains, and it has been already shown that land does not repay the
expense of clearing for years afterwards. Take for illustration a case
where a block of 7000 acres has been purchased at $4 per acre, the block
would cost L.7000 currency. Suppose the proprietor clears 100 acres
yearly for six successive years, at the termination of which he finds
the expense of improvement and his family living has been disbursed by
the crops, and I am much mistaken if such an extent of operations and
successful issue has ever taken place. The legal interest of the country
being 6 per cent, the original purchase money will now amount to L.9520,
or a yearly burden on the cleared portion of nearly twenty shillings per
acre; and if the purchase money was only $2 instead of $4, the yearly
burden would still be ten shillings. Purchasing the prairie of Illinois
is very different, because the whole surface is productive without
cultivation, and keeping but a single sheep on it per acre, would leave
a profit on the outlay. A rise in the value of Illinois land in course
of a few years may be held to be certain, and in the mean time it will
continue productive. A rise in the value of forest land in Upper Canada
for twenty years to come is doubtful, and until then it will remain
unproductive. There is no way of escaping from loss in holding a tract
of forest land in Canada but by selling it.
A party of friends cannot conveniently settle themselves together in the
forest of Upper Canada. Each family would be shut out from the others’
occupying a small clearance, with bad roads of communication, and the
larger the party and the extent of each family’s possessions, the
greater these and other inconveniences would become. A party may occupy
a portion, or the whole, of a prairie in Illinois with the best effects.
Each family might settle within sight of the whole party, with good
roads of communication, and although the possessions of each might be
extensive, circumstances would be the same, with exception of the
distance of separation. The skirts of the prairie would afford forest,
scattered trees, or lawn for adorning residences, but Upper Canada being
an interminable forest, the members of which do not answer to stand when
singled out, there is but little choice of natural beauty of situation.
The agriculturists of Britain, who have long been accustomed to obtain
high prices for produce, and consequently to finger much cash, may be
apt to treat with contempt the idea of farming in a country where prices
are so low as they are in Illinois. I have already remarked that the
British farmer collects the corn-law tax, the results of nature’s
assistance, and part of what flows from his own capital, and the
operatives’ labour, all of which he pays in the name of rent and taxes;
so it is only that portion of the cash which sticks to his own pocket
that is really valuable to him. When conversing on this subject, a
farmer once remarked to me that he paid money away as fast as it was
received, and derived no advantage from the cash which resulted from
high prices beyond the temporary pleasure of looking at it.
It is far from my intention to undervalue the advantages enjoyed by the
farmers of Britain, or to ridicule them for discharging, through the
medium of high prices, just debts, which I consider to be one of the
most pleasing employments in life. But while sensible of the general
benefits of cash, let me ask British farmers what is the use of money to
them beyond the means it affords of purchasing things? The industrious
farmer of Illinois may not perhaps be able to accumulate much money, but
although not rich in _cash_, he cannot fail of being rich in _things_.
The view which I have ventured to describe of cash and things, as
affecting the farmer of Britain and Illinois, is not visionary. Take for
illustration a favourable case in Britain. Suppose a farmer to have
rented 300 acres for a period of thirty years, during which he has
maintained and educated a family, and to die worth five thousand pounds.
This sum will do little more than place two sons in a situation similar
to what he occupied, that is to say, it will purchase twice the farming
apparatus he himself possessed. A farmer occupying the like extent and
for the same period in Illinois, might educate and maintain a family in
the fullest abundance, and would find no difficulty during his lifetime
in placing a dozen of sons in a similar position with himself by the
means of things, whatever might be the state of prices. If a son, on
attaining his fifteenth year, were to work for hire, or to be
industrious on his father’s farm until reaching the age of twenty-one,
the results of his own labour would enable him to purchase and stock a
farm without assistance from the father. But in a case where the son may
not have been industrious, the farmer could have little difficulty in
providing him with a farm, when the fleece of a sheep purchases an acre
and a half of land. A farm is almost as easily stocked as it is
purchased, one ploughing and harrowing being sufficient to procure a
crop of Indian corn and one of wheat; while the produce of an acre of
the former will furnish seed for 320 acres, and an acre of the latter
seed for forty-five acres.
Hitherto the case of farmers and their sons has only been alluded to. It
is unnecessary, however, to notice the situations of widows, daughters,
and infant-children, after what has been stated at pages 336–7 and
344–5. When a British tenant, who has farmed on lease, is descending the
vale of years, with local attachments for the spot where he was born
deeply-seated in his heart, the caprice of landholder, agent, or factor
may uproot the best feelings of his nature, and set him aside to make
room for another. But the farmer of Illinois has the assurance of
terminating his days on the spot which has been the scene of his
operations in manhood, unmolested by any one.
The farmer may change the scene of his operations from Britain to
Illinois, and benefit by the transition, but the like prospect cannot be
held out to the Illinois farmer. The following is an extract from a
letter lately received from my brother Charles:—“I do not regret the
step which I have taken in settling myself on the banks of the
Mississippi, and shall be stimulated to active exertion by the thought,
that every tree I cut down, every sod I turn, and every animal I rear,
brings me nearer Scotland. I have reason to believe these hopes will be
realized. Allowing, however, that they will not—that a livelihood is the
most I shall obtain, and that I am compelled to spend and end my days
here—what of that? at the longest, life is not so very long, and when
accompanied with virtue, it has attractions almost any where. But I
still look to Scotland as containing all I truly love in this world, and
shall never relinquish the hope of being able to end my days at home.”
In Britain the state of every thing at present is so different from
Illinois, that there is not much prospect of any emigrant farmer
realizing such a fortune in Illinois as will enable him to return and
live in Britain. The rate of interest in Illinois being nearly three
times more, and the price of provisions nearly three times less than in
Britain, a change of residence from the former to the latter would be
attended with an immense loss of income to the capitalist. On the other
hand, a change from Britain to Illinois would greatly augment his
income. Britain and Illinois cannot, however, long continue so
dissimilar as they are at present. The necessaries of life are likely to
approach nearer each other in price, by a rise in the one country and a
fall in the other, and ultimately the youthful emigrant of the present
day may be enabled to return to Britain in his old age.
Some of the opinions which I have expressed of the Canadas and Illinois,
as adapted for agriculture, may be tested by the standard of nature.
From the junction of the north branch of the river Ottawa with the St
Lawrence below Montreal, to Goderich in the west of Upper Canada, and
from thence to the southern point of Illinois, the eye is only relieved
by two inconsiderable eminences in Lower Canada. Lakes Huron and
Michigan being situated in the highest parts, and only 589 feet above
the level of the sea, this tract of country may be considered an immense
valley, the Canadas running from the lakes in a north-easterly
direction, and Illinois running south. On a general view, there is so
little difference of elevation, that the countries may be considered of
the same altitude, and their climates affected only by latitude. The
medium latitude of Lower Canada may be stated at 46°, of Upper Canada,
44°, and of Illinois, 40. Supposing winter to increase in duration two
weeks with each degree of latitude, the winter of the medium of Illinois
may be stated at two months, of Upper Canada at four months, and of
Lower Canada at five months. The summers of the countries lengthen
inversely with the winters.
Judging from what came under my notice, I am inclined to think the
surface of Illinois is superior soil to the Canadas, and the lower
province better than Upper Canada. There is, however, much good and bad
soil in all the countries, and in order to avoid the semblance of
partiality, the soil of the Canadas and Illinois shall be assumed to be
similar in quality.
I have formerly denominated soil a workshop; air, moisture, light, and
heat, raw materials, termed climate; plants and animals, machinery;
certain minerals and labour, oil for the machinery which manufacture
farm produce. Nature and man perform distinct parts in the manufacture,
and the farmer’s success depends on the aid which he is enabled to
afford her. Man is subordinate to nature, and a superabundant or a
diminished supply of moisture or of heat, which form part of the
materials she supplies, may arrest the manufacture, and impair or
destroy the machinery furnished by man.
The workshop or soil of the Canadas and Illinois has been assumed to be
similar, but the raw materials of nature are not at all times furnished
to the workshops of these countries in the same proportions, and this
variation of supply or difference of climate, affects the manufacturing
results of the farms, both with regard to the quantity and quality of
fabrics.
The winters of Lower Canada, Upper Canada, and Illinois being
respectively five, four, and two months in length, manufacturing will be
altogether suspended in the countries for corresponding periods. The
effects of suspended heat, or presence of cold, on animal machinery, is
increased by intensity as well as duration, and labour or furnishing of
oil is impracticable in winter. Manufacturing proceeds only when winter
is absent, and is increased by the intensity and length of summer, when
oil can be supplied. Winter being absent seven months in Lower Canada,
eight in Upper Canada, and ten in Illinois, the relative quantities of
fabrics manufactured in the workshops are not truly represented by these
numbers; and when all the effects of climate and of labour on animal and
vegetable machinery are duly considered, the average farming results, as
regard quantity, may be stated in Lower Canada at six, in Upper Canada
at seven and a half, and in Illinois at ten. But farming depends greatly
on the aid afforded nature, and the stated results of the countries are
supposed to arise from similar management.
Climate not being alike congenial to all plants and animals, the results
of the farm will be affected in quantity and quality by the machinery
which is employed and the care bestowed on it. It is almost unnecessary
to illustrate this position. The north of Scotland yields finer oats
than the south of England, but falls far short in the growth of wheat.
The wheat of Lower Canada is inferior to the wheat of the upper
province, and the growth of Illinois is superior to the wheat of Upper
Canada. Lower Canada does not produce autumn sown wheat, and Upper
Canada is not, like Illinois, congenial to the growth of Indian corn,
the “meal, meadow, and manure” of the farm. Taking into consideration
the winters and summers of the countries, the qualities of their wheat,
and the importance of Indian corn, the average farming results,
combining the quantity and quality of human sustenance, may be stated in
Lower Canada at five, in Upper Canada at eight, and in Illinois at
twelve. This calculation is meant to apply to soil under cultivation,
and to embrace the results of nature, capital, and labour.
I formerly assumed the results of nature in American farming to be
represented by the number 3. They will, however, necessarily vary with
the climate of the different parts of the country and the system of
management pursued. From what has been already stated regarding the
agriculture of the Canadas and Illinois, nature’s part in the produce
arising from cultivation may be stated thus—
Nature in Lower Canada produce will be represented by 2
—— in Upper Canada by 3
—— in Illinois by 4
It has already been mentioned, that a person possessing his own land has
nature for his servant; and if the estimates of her assistance in the
different countries approximate to accuracy, the farmer in Illinois
receives from nature double the assistance of the Lower Canada farmer,
and upwards of thirty per cent more than the farmer in Upper Canada.
The assistance which farmers in the different countries derive from
nature on first settlement is not fully displayed by the numbers two,
three, and four. It has formerly been assumed that a person in the
Canadas may clear ten acres of forest land in a year, and reap from it a
crop of wheat at the end of eighteen months, and that a person in
Illinois may reap in the same time a crop of Indian corn and a crop of
wheat from fifty acres. But the stumps of trees in the Canadas will
occupy two acres out of the ten, and thereby limit nature’s assistance
to eight acres. Nature’s assistance to the farmer in eighteen months
after settlement may be thus expressed:—
In Lower Canada, 8 multiplied by 2 on a wheat crop, 16
In Upper Canada, 8 multiplied by 3 on a wheat crop, 24
In Illinois, 50 multiplied by 4 on an Indian corn crop, 200 400
In Illinois, 50 multiplied by 4 on a wheat crop, 200 „
From the preceding statement, the farmer in Illinois receives from
nature twenty-five times the assistance of the Lower Canada farmer, and
nearly seventeen times the assistance of the farmer in Upper Canada. But
if nature’s contribution to the advantages which the Illinois settler
derives from the prairie be estimated, he may be said to receive from
nature thirty, and twenty times the assistance of the farmer in Lower
and Upper Canada respectively. It is the assistance which the farmer
derives from nature in degree, as well as in extent, which gives the
prairies of Illinois such advantages over the forests of Canada.
The British emigrant reaches Lower Canada by the river St Lawrence, the
navigation of which is closed by ice from November till May. Upper
Canada may be reached by the St Lawrence, or by way of New York and the
Erie canal. When the emigrant has a delicate family, and is encumbered
with heavy luggage, the route by New York is the best, more especially
if the place of his destination communicates with lakes Erie, St Clair,
or Huron. The routes to Illinois are by the St Lawrence and New York,
through the western lakes to Chicago on lake Michigan, or by New York
and the canal communicating with the river Ohio and lake Erie. Illinois
may also be reached by way of New York, Philadelphia, and from thence to
Wheeling on the Ohio, or by way of Baltimore and Wheeling. But the most
economical way for a family and luggage to proceed is by way of New
Orleans and the Mississippi, navigation seldom being interrupted by this
route, and steam-boats leaving New Orleans every two or three days for
the town of St Louis and the Ohio.
The expense of the best cabin passage from Liverpool to New Orleans,
including bedding and wine, is from L.30 to L.35 sterling, and the
passage from New Orleans to St Louis, L.5, 6s. A steerage passage from
Liverpool to New Orleans is from L.4 to L.5, exclusive of bedding and
provisions, and from New Orleans to St Louis, L.1, 14s.
The agricultural implements of Britain are ill adapted for the forest
settler; and as a general rule, the implements of the country are
suitable for what is required of them. Cotton goods are nearly as cheap
in the United States as in Britain, but woollens are higher.
The household furniture of Britain is unsuitable for agricultural
emigrants. Cooking apparatus adapted for the country can be had every
where. Crockery, glass, and hardware may be taken, and bedding
materials, with exception of feathers.
THE END.
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND CO., PAUL’S WORK, CANONGATE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Page Changed from Changed to
41 with dark faces. Barberry, with dark faces. Barberry,
elder, and aller were growing elder, and alder were growing
● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.
● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
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