The British Association's Visit To Montreal, 1884: Letters, By Clara Rayleigh
















































































































































 -  This accounted for the delay in our getting assistance, and
fortunately for us all, that our small accident happened when - Page 20
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This Accounted For The Delay In Our Getting Assistance, And Fortunately For Us All, That Our Small Accident Happened When It Did.

As our friends from Winnipeg thankfully exclaimed, "if it had not been for your accident, which was happily so

Harmless, we should have gone over that bridge, and as our train was faster and heavier there would probably hare been a greater smash;" and we exclaimed, "but for our comparatively harmless accident, we should have gone over that bridge that night and come to great grief." Wasn't it a mercy we escaped? We had Professor Boyd Dawkins, Professor Shaw, Mr. de Hamel, Bishop of Ontario, Mr. Stephen Bourne, &c., on our car for some miles on our way _back_, and then we were shunted on a siding to wait as patiently as we could. At this _Hawk_ something station we parted with our British Association friends, with many good wishes and waving of handkerchiefs, and were left shunted on the edge of a disagreeable embankment over the lake. After all this excitement we read, had dinner and played whist; then made our own beds, and all the 'boys' slept in the drawing room with me last night, and E - - had the state cabin to herself. It was very cold in the night, and I had to hunt up another rug. We breakfasted at half-past eight, and now the others are taking a walk while I write. I forgot to say Gibson and Roberts went on with our luggage, across the bridge (or rather, by its side), in the train which returned to Winnipeg, and there they will stay till we return from the Rockies. E - - and the boys are just off in the cab of an engine exploring to the broken bridge. It will he fun, perhaps, for them, but _I_ find I have frights enough to endure in our necessary journeys. There is actually a cow at this station, so we had milk for porridge and tea; moreover, there is a piece of ploughed land, a rare sight in this wild stony _watery_ country. The Canadian Pacific Railway have not had experience before this autumn of the effect of heavy rains on their roads, bridges, &c., and things have sometimes come to grief in consequence; some bridges are very good and not temporary.

_Later_. - Since writing the foregoing, John and E - - and Hedley went off on the cow-catcher of an engine for two or three miles excursion! Dick did not "paddle his own canoe," but the station master did for him on the lake here, and he _nearly_ succeeded in catching a large trout! He and I wandered afterwards on the Rocky Hill, and picked enough blueberries for dinner, and I refreshed my eyes with some lovely-berried red-leaved little shrubs. Since luncheon a telegram came, telling us we might go over the bridge, and so off we went, and on arriving walked all about, some sketching the fallen engine, &c. We set off with Mr. Egan the manager, in his car in front of us, _en route_ for Eat Portage, where I am finishing this journal up to this date, Wednesday, September 17th. It is lovely weather now, and this place is very pretty, and looks quite civilized after our wilderness kind of scenery. Mr. Egan is now going on to Winnipeg, and will post this for me. After our return from the Rockies to Winnipeg, we shall go to Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia, where write.

Letter No. 6.

_September 21st_, 1884. - I am beginning this in our car _en route_ to the Rockies, in fact with their snow-covered summits well in sight. I posted a letter to you, No. 5, at Winnipeg, and also a newspaper for Mary. From Winnipeg the Canadian Pacific Railway is much more comfortable, for on the boundless flat of the prairies there is no need for many tressel bridges or crumbling embankments, and we went along without fear, excepting that in the neighbourhood of settled parts, we had to look out for cows. Once we stopped very suddenly (their brakes are so good in America), having near gone over one in the dark. They use sometimes a curious kind of sound from the engine, not unlike the _moo_ of a cow in distress, and I saw it effectually drive some off the line. The maids met us at Winnipeg Station, and seemed anxious to go to the Rockies, so we settled they might, and they rushed back for their things, but they returned only in time to see our train off! On the whole we thought it was as well they had not come, for maids don't generally like this kind of life, and we did not need them. We changed cooks at Winnipeg against my wish, but the others were not satisfied with our first one, and we have certainly not changed for the better; he is a coloured man called David, and has been ill, or pretends to be, since yesterday, and another coloured man whom, we call Jonathan, comes in to help him.

_Saturday_. - We arrived at Moose Jaw after a very rocking journey, so bad that I could not sleep, and sat in a chair part of the night; at last, however, the cold and sleepiness overcame all fear, and I slept in my bed soundly. We saw lots of Indians in red and white blankets, ugly and uninteresting creatures. We made acquaintance with the Roman Catholic Archbishop, who has been travelling in the car next to ours. He is a French Canadian, but talked English well. He is very pleasant. He introduced me to two priests, one of whom had been working among the Indians thirty years. Afterwards he had a talk with John, and remarked upon my youthfulness to be his mother. Of course, I am always being taken for his wife, and they seem very much puzzled about it altogether.

_Saturday night, the 20th_. - We reached Calgary after a quieter night - quite an important city.

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