The spirit
of enterprise, which has done so much for the adjacent state of Maine, has
not yet displayed itself in New Brunswick in the completion of any works
of practical utility; and though the soil in many places has great natural
capabilities, these have not been taken due advantage of.
There are two modes of reaching St. John from Shediac, one by stage, the
other by steamer; and the ladies and children, fearful of the fatigue of a
land journey, remained to take the steamer from the Bend. I resolved to
stay under Mr. Sandford's escort, and go by land, one of my objects being
to see as much of the country as possible; also my late experiences of
colonial steamboat travelling had not been so agreeable as to induce me to
brave the storms of the Bay of Fundy in a crazy vessel, which had been
injured only two nights before by a collision in a race. On the night on
which some of my companions sailed the Creole's engines were disabled,
and she remained in a helpless condition for four hours, so I had a very
fortunate escape.
Taking leave of the amusingly miscellaneous party in the "house-room," I
left Shediac for the Bend, in company with seven persons from Prince
Edward Island, in a waggon drawn by two ponies, and driven by the
landlord, a shrewd specimen of a colonist.
This mode of transit deserves a passing notice. The waggon consisted of an
oblong shallow wooden tray on four wheels; on this were placed three
boards resting on high unsteady props, and the machine was destitute of
springs. The ponies were thin, shaggy, broken-kneed beings, under fourteen
hands high, with harness of a most meagre description, and its cohesive
qualities seemed very small, if I might judge from the frequency with
which the driver alighted to repair its parts with pieces of twine, with
which his pockets were stored, I suppose in anticipation of such
occasions.
These poor little animals took nearly four hours to go fourteen miles, and
even this rate of progression was only kept up by the help of continual
admonitions from a stout leather thong.
It was a dismal evening, very like one in England at the end of November -
the air cold and damp - and I found the chill from wet clothes and an east
wind anything but agreeable. The country also was extremely uninviting,
and I thought its aspect more gloomy than that of Nova Scotia.
