dogs, the wild animals of the forest were the only inhabitants of the wide domain. Next morning, when Mr. Birkbeck and his boy went out, as he observes, "to seek for neighbours," having heard of two new settlements at no great distance, he found one of his neighbours in a cabin like his own, about two miles north-east of him, making the most of a rainy day, by employing himself in mending his family's shoes. Another neighbour lived about the same distance from him to the south. In their walks, Mr. Birkbeck and his boy saw no game but partridges and squirrels. What he calls "our township," is a square of six miles each side: but what he thought might be properly called, "his neighbourhood," extended about six miles round this township in every direction. His next object was to erect a windmill, and in a short time he hoped to have two ploughs at work, and to put in one hundred acres of corn in the course of the spring.

The

Here is described the first foundation of an infant colony, to which it appears great numbers of people were flocking, particularly the labouring classes. Many privations, it must be allowed, must be endured in a new establishment; but the prospect of reaping a rich harvest seems most inviting. suffering part is principally in winter, during the time whilst the first buildings are erecting. Mr. Birkbeck mentions some severe paroxysms of cold, when the wind sets in from the north-west, the thermometer falling rapidly to seven or eight degrees below zero. When it is in other quarters, they have clear sunshine, the thermometer being frequently above 50 in the shade. Good roads and good houses, it is acknowledged, are still wanting, to render the winters of the Illinois pleasant. During this season, the sombre appearance of the forests, these being without a single evergreen to relieve the eye, together with the total deficiency of verdure on the surface of the earth, presents a doleful aspect to

those habituated to the more cheerful view of European scenery. The natural turf, where the shade is not too deep to allow a turf to be formed, is composed chiefly of annual grasses, or of such as wither down to the roots in autumn; but the perennial, or evergreen species, when sown here, are found to thrive to adiniration, taking possession of the soil, to the exclusion of indigenous grasses. It has been observed, that where the little caravans of travellers or emigrants have encamped, as they crossed the prairies or meadows, and have given their cattle hay made of the perennial grasses, there remains ever after a spot of the green turf, for the instruction and encouragement of future improvers.

As the spring comes on in March here, Mr. Birkbeck's colony began to assume an encouraging aspect; their friends were gathering round them, and so far from being solitary, doleful, and desolate, all this he said must be reversed, to form any notion of their condition. The toil and difficulty, and even the dangers, attending the removal of a family from the hills of Surrey to the prairies of Illinois, he observed, are considerable, and the responsibility is felt at every step, as a load upon the spirits of a father. But to have passed through all this harmlessly, and even triumphantly; to have secured a retreat for themselves, and then turning their backs on care and anxiety; to be employed in smoothing the way, and preparing a happy resting-place for others, is an enjoyment which he did not calculate upon when he left his old home.

Mr. Birkbeck gives some curious instances of the state of the administration of justice in the back settlements, which are yet scarcely brought under the control of the laws. Much intrepidity of mind, and hardihood of body, are indispensable requisites among the learned brethren of the long robe: "Brass for the face will not suffice, they must be steel all

over." We were informed, that the judge and the counsel were working their way, in February, to the next county town, through trackless woods, over snow and ice, with the thermometer at zero. In one day his honour swam his horse seven times, and had to dry his clothes on his back, by turning round and round before a blazing fire, preparatory to a night's lodging on a cabin-floor, wrapped up in a blanket, the only robe used here by the profession. In some cases, even the venerable judge is compelled to perform the office of thief-taker, or to execute summary justice on those who resist.

CHAP. IV.

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Nantucket--New York-The Theatre-Literature -American Steam-Boats-Poughkeepsie-Passion for Building ridiculed-Albany-Falls of the Mohawk-Ticonderoga-Lakes George and Champlain - Plattsburgh-American Interference in Conversation - Innkeepers-Rarity of Begging-Canadian Frontier-Canadian Peasants-River St. Lawrence - Inns — Sleighs— Frozen Provisions-Falls of Montmorenci-State of Society in Quebec- Rafts - Plains of Abraham--Michmac Indians-A Canadian Gentleman-A Settler-Falls of ShawinaganeeBelail Mountain-Montreal-Sir George Prevost-The Burning Spring-The Thousand Isles -Kingston-Sackett's Harbour-General Brown -Utica-Falls of Niagara-Buffalo-Batavia -Black Squirrels-Prejudices removed - American Girls-Steady Germans.

LIEUTENANT HALL sailed from Liverpool in January, 1816, in an American vessel. On the 27th they touched on the stream of Newfoundland. Describing Nantucket, he says, some of the inhabitants

It

of this little island are worth 20,000l. each. derived its name from some Indians called Nantucks, and when first known by the Europeans, was a barren sand. This was gradually converted into pastures, but finally the inhabitants became whalers, in which occupation they frequently double Cape Horn. The women here are accustomed to take a sinall quantity of opium every morning. A person who had visited this island before Mr. Hall, found no books there, except Hudibras, Josephus, and the Bible. The religion is wholly Presbyterian, and the island, which formerly belonged to New York, is now an appendage to Massachusets.

Having arrived at New York in the beginning of March, Mr. Hall observed fifty churches or chapels of different sects, a proof that a national church is not indispensable, for the maintenance of religion. The houses are generally good, and often elegant; but it requires American prejudice to discover that "Broadway" rivals any of the finest streets in London or Paris.

Mr. Hall, speaking of the law courts, remarks the plainness of justice, stripped of all "pomp and circumstance," divested of flowing wigs, ermine, and silk gowns. Judges and counsellors were in the dress of private gentlemen. A woman was found guilty of stealing several hundred dollars; and as murder and arson are the only crimes punished with death, she was sentenced to imprisonment. theatre, the audience being mostly males, bore some resemblance to ours at Portsmouth. The Americans have little taste for music or the drama; and think meanly of the former, unless it is connected with dancing.

The

At a little museum in New York, a small collection of birds were exhibited, in tolerable good preservation; but among the wax-work figures, in the same place, Saul appears in a Frenchman's embroi

dered coat, the Witch of Endor is dressed like a housemaid, and Samuel in a robe de chambre and a cotton night-cap.

According to another traveller, the population, as it appears in the streets of New York, bears an aspect essentially different from that of London, or large English towns. One striking feature consists in the number of blacks, many of whom are finely dressed, the females very ludicrously so, shewing a partiality to white muslins, artificial flowers, and pink shoes. There are many well-dressed white ladies. The dress of the men is rather deficient in point of neatness and gentility. Their appearance, in common with that of the ladies and children, is sallow, and what would, by some, be called unhealthy. To have colour in the cheeks, is an infallible criterion by which to be discovered as an Englishman. The young men are tall, thin, and solemn; their dress is universally trowsers, and very generally loose great coats. Churches are numerous and handsome; several hotels are on an extensive scale: The shops, or stores as they are called, have little in their exterior to recommend them; not even an attempt is made at display. The linen and woollen-drapers leave quantities of their goods loose on boxes in the street, without any precaution against theft. A great number of excellent private dwellings are built of red painted brick, which gives them a peculiarly neat and clean appearance. Most of the streets are dirty and all of them are infested with pigs. The cold indifference of the shopkeepers is remarkable; they stand with their hats on, or sit, or lie along their counters, smoking segars, and spitting in every direction, offensive to a degree to any one of decent feelings.

Beggars are very uncommon. New York, when approached from the sea, presents a truly beautiful object. It is built at the extreme point of Manhattan