The Poor Old Man, Broken Down
With Extreme Age, Had Still The Remains Of A Commanding Presence, Which
Even His Miserable Dress, Unshaven Beard, And Bleared And Misty Eye,
Could Not Altogether Extinguish.
"This village gives an example of the fate of all the Indian tribes.
Here, once brought together to live
After the manner of the whites,
this tribe has been reduced in number, and finally all but absorbed;
and in a few years not one of the unmixed race will remain, and the
language of the tribe will be obliterated.
"At Lorette are the falls of the St. Charles, which are very
interesting. After seeing them, I had some milk at the 'Billy Button,'
a public-house kept by a Yankee, who deals in the Indian ornaments made
in the village, and shows the falls, and then drove round to Quebec,
through a fine and richly-tilled district; and, in passing, saw a
hotly-contested heat run upon the course on the plains of Abraham - for
it was Quebec races."
* * * * *
"TORONTO, "Saturday, September 6th, 1851.
"Returning to Montreal, I spent Thursday in visiting various
institutions of that city, and drove out with Mr. - - to see the
country residence of a friend of his, which is hidden in a sweet little
glen, from whence, however, glimpses of the St. Lawrence river are
obtained. This gentleman lives here in summer, and employs his leisure
in the cultivation of the fruits and flowers, which a fine soil and a
forcing climate produce in perfection. He complains of the destruction
of the large trees in his vicinage, regretting that those who own the
neighbouring woods should be impelled to bring down, first, the oldest
and finest timber, and should be unable to preserve even so much of it
as might illustrate hereafter the magnificent proportions of the native
forest wood. This is truly one of the sad features of advancing
civilization. The fine old forests, like the native Indians, lose their
noblest chieftains, and, degenerating to a few dwarfed and scattered
specimens, at last disappear and are forgotten.
"Mr. - - told us much of the happy and comfortable lives of the farmers
and settlers hereabouts. All have land; food in abundance, including
sugar from their own maple-bush; cattle; horses; light spring waggons,
which serve as family coaches when not required for the week-day's
work; good homely furniture and clothing: in short, an abundance of all
the essentials of existence, and even wealth - but they possess little
money. In many cases, and now that agricultural improvement has become
a necessity, this want of money is found to be a great evil. The
ordinary sized farms, of 100 acres of good land, all in cultivation,
are worth from 500l., to 1,000l.; and very often an
expenditure of 200l. or 300l. in improvements would
double their value. The legal rate of interest here is 6 per cent.; and
as high a rate as 7 or 8 per cent could be got for small loans on
mortgages for these purposes were the money to be had.
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