it consists are clean, and cheerful-looking. The Academy, at a little distance, is a very imposing building, with a portico in front, surmounted by a cupola, and two wings. It was erected by subscription amongst the members of that numerous sect, the Methodists, but is not restricted to persons of this persuasion.

Thursday, 5th.-This morning, the wind blew so high, and the lake was so rough, that the steamer from Kingston could not touch, as it was expected she would have done, to take up passengers at Cobourg. I was therefore detained, much against my will, in that little place, till the mail-coach (what a misnomer!) arrived, which was not till four o'clock. I had then to submit to seventy-two miles of travelling, over infamous roads, in a waggon without springs, and with nothing but curtains to keep out the cold on the sides. The night was chilly enough, and the whole of it, as well as the next day till forenoon, was spent in this conveyance. Nor is the time to be wondered at, when the state of the roads is taken into account, the deep holes, rather than ruts, that lay in the midst of it, the trunks of trees standing up at various intervals, &c. We passed over a bridge with a large hole in its centre, and several rotten timbers, that seemed hardly equal to bearing our heavy vehicle. At night the passage must be positively dangerous. After passing Fort Hope, the country seemed in a less advanced state of cultivation than near Cobourg. Even as we approached Toronto there were few houses, a belt of forest encircling the town for some distance. I was glad to see some symptoms of macadamizing as we came near, though in too infant a state for us to profit much by it.

On Friday, about two p. m., reached Toronto, which though, like most other American towns, rather in an embryo condition, yet holds out more promise of prosperity than any other place I have seen in the Canadas. Its population at present does not much exceed 10,000 persons, but the streets, which are wide and straight, stretch for a distance of nearly two miles, from east to west, along the lake. These streets, however, consist for the most part of houses with gardens or void spaces intervening, and towards the extremity are at such distances apart, that we should naturally imagine ourselves in the country, if not reminded by the name of the street placed up at intervals, that we are still within the precincts.

There is certainly space enough for 100,000 people within what is called the city, and should Canada increase in population, as may be looked for, there is no saying whether, in a century, Toronto may not attain that amount of population. There are, at present, more genteel and respectable houses than in Montreal and Quebec, all erected since the last American

war, at which time Toronto was twice taken and burnt. Its situation along the borders of the lake is agreeable, though there are no distant objects, either on the side of the land or of the water, to impart variety to the prospect. There are some substantial public buildings, likewise, built of brick, such as the College, the Parliament Buildings, the Courts of Law, &c., and a broad avenue of half a mile in length, leading up to a spot which is fixed upon for the future University. I see no reason why it should not, some time or other, vie with those of the United States.

The surface water of Lake Ontario is transparent and tasteless; its specific gravity is so nearly that of distilled water, that I could not estimate the precise difference. Nitrate of silver produces no precipitation; acetate of barytes none; oxalate of ammonia a trace of lime; spirituous solution of soap causes a cloudiness; barytic water the same. Sixteen ounces evaporated to dryness, left of solid residuum only 0.5 grains, which, when dissolved in water, gave traces of muriatic and sulphuric acids, and of lime.

Monday, October 9th.-I dined with the Governor, Sir F. Head, and met there, besides Lady Head and Mrs. Dalrymple (his Excellency's sister), Mrs. Draper, Mr. Jameson the ViceChancellor, Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, the Archdeacon of York, and several others. Spent a very agreeable day. Sir Francis is somewhat reserved at his own table, and it is only now and then that the characteristic humour of the author of the "Bubbles" oozes out in his conversation.

Tuesday, 10th.-Proceeded by the stage to Holland Landing, Lake Simcoe. The country all the way is pretty well cleared on either side of the road, and some thriving farms and cheerful houses occur all along. Were we not aware that the cultivation stretches chiefly along the borders of the road (the interior being in general uncleared), we might imagine the country thickly peopled.

There is a gradual rise from Toronto till we approach Lake Simcoe, and but little descent, comparatively, to the latter lake, which therefore stands on a much higher level. It is, I understand, the highest lake in Upper Canada.

Wednesday.-Proceeded by the steamer round the western side of the lake, and reached the Narrows on its southern side in the evening. Being favoured by a fine day, I saw much to be pleased with in the general aspect of the lake, its little capes and bays, its finely wooded shores, and its islands, covered by trees, exhibiting all the richness and variety of the autumnal

tints. There was, however, no back-ground to give grandeur to the scenery, the shores being uniformly flat and tame. The most picturesque part was the Narrows, where Lake Simcoe communicates, by a comparatively narrow channel, with Lake Coutchchitin above. The number of islands here seen, and the manner in which, after entering the narrows, we appear shut in by the land on all sides, are the points that chiefly strike one.* Occasional clearings and detached houses are to be seen on the borders of the lake, but the portion of land brought into cultivation seems to bear no comparison with that still covered by forests. Near the narrows is a village, partly of Indians, some of whom were seen in a pretty savage state, bivouacking round their fires near the lake, at the place where the steamer halted. The men and boys were dressed in blankets, the girls looking very like Gypsies, except in their physiognomies, being much uglier.

A limestone quarry is found near this spot; before, all the way from Toronto, nothing but sand, clay, and detached granitic boulders was visible.

Thursday, 12th.-Proceeded by the steamer from the Narrows to Mr. Lally's, in the parish of Oro, where I stopped, and thus had an opportunity of seeing how the best class of settlers in this remote part of the world are circumstanced, as regards board and lodging. Mr. Lally's abode is a log-house, the interstices plastered without, and boarded within rather neatly. It consists of a small entrance hall, with a sitting-room on one side, a bed-room on the other. Behind is a kitchen, of about the same size as the parlour, and above-stairs are garrets, in one of which I slept, but with the rafters of the roof leaning so directly from the floor, that to stand upright, except in the centre, was impossible. There was a verandah surrounding three sides of the house, and, in front, a wonder in this part of the country, was a flower-garden.

The furniture was scanty, and simple enough, but there was something, nevertheless, which told you that you were in the house of an English gentleman. In Mrs. Lally I saw an instance of cheerfulness (for I will not call it resignation), under circumstances calculated to try the temper of a lady, accustomed to the comforts and the resources of an English household. Since the summer of last year she had never slept off the premises; she was totally destitute of female society: in front was the lake, the only means of communication with her

* Roche's Point, too, about fourteen miles from the mouth of the Holland River, on the east side of the Lake, presents some agreeable prospects.

neighbours; behind, a forest, without a single path sufficiently trodden for a female to venture upon. In consequence, though a good pedestrian, she had not walked eight miles in the course of the last year, and all visiting was out of the question, as I had ocular proof, from the scantiness of servants and their rawness. In fact, bells are unknown within the precincts of Lake Simcoe, and the servants do not wait, but merely leave the dishes and retire..

Six

As to Mr. Lally, it is deplorable to think, that energies and talents, such as his, improved by a good education, should have been squandered away in the chopping of trees, and in labours which a common hind could perform so much better. years ago, in the month of December, when the thermometer on Lake Simcoe ranges at 5° or 10° below zero, he began the clearing of his estate, within a month of his arrival in the colony. He lodged in a common shanty, not better than an English cowshed, which still remains as a memorial of the hardships he must have encountered, and persevered during the whole of that winter, the succeeding summer, and the following winter, in clearing with his own hands the land which he had purchased. His spirit at the time carried him through all this fatigue triumphantly, but I fear that he has felt the effects of it since; and after six years labour, when his estate begins to wear a more settled and more promising aspect, he begins to think of relinquishing it for the South of France, on the score of health. It surely is a losing speculation for any English gentleman, whatever may be his fortune or expectations, to purchase an uncleared estate; such should be left for the rough farmer, or the regular backwoodsman, and when the preliminary labour is thus accomplished, it is time enough for the capitalist, whether great or small, to step in, and to purchase the privilege of improving and rendering it profitable.

It would be long before my eye could get reconciled to the prospect of an estate recently cleared-to a field covered, as it were, with the stumps of the trees that had been removed, and with one's view everywhere, except in front, intercepted by the forest, which spreads to an indefinite 'extent in all directions. Surely, this is not a position which can hold out attractions to any but those who are unable to maintain themselves in their native land. With regard to the gentry who resort to such localities, it is pride which fixes them there, as it is pride which first induced them to leave their own country; the pride of moving as important personages amongst the new settlers, the pride which deters them from sinking to an inferior grade at home.

With regard to the relative value of labour in the two countries, I have the assurance of more than one settler, that the same amount expended on agriculture in the old country would

produce equal results, for when summer commences, the concerns of husbandry succeed each other with a rapidity which we have no idea of at home, and here nothing can be done by deputy, so that the Canadian gentleman works much harder than the English farmer.

The young men brought up in these distant settlements seldom turn out well; it is difficult to educate them, and still more so to preserve them from bad company; so that it would seem, that if a gentleman of small fortune contrives by migrating into Canada to keep himself from losing caste, he cannot prevent his children from doing so, seeing that a residence in the backwoods inevitably degrades them more, than an apprenticeship to farming or to mechanical employments in the old country would have done.

Friday, 13th.-I took a ramble with Mr. Lally, and traced for a little way the terrace or ridge-road, which, I am told, extends nearly round this lake, as it does round Ontario, indicating, as is supposed, that the waters once stood at this higher level.

After fighting our way through a dense forest, we reached at length a recent clearage, which had till lately been in the occupation of a half-pay officer. This poor man, with a wife and ten children, lived in a house consisting of three rooms, a kitchen, parlour, and bed-room; but his wife became insane, and in one of her fits, broke loose, and wandered into the woods, where she continued five days before she could be found. She was, however, alive, having subsisted upon berries, but has continued mad ever since.

In these vast forests, indeed, one part of which is an exact counterpart of another, it is by no means uncommon for persons in their sound senses to lose themselves within a few miles of their homes, and it has happened to them to become so completely bewildered, that they have wandered for days round and round a given point, almost in a circle, without making all the time any nearer approach to their destination.

But the great annoyance of this country is the plague of mosquitoes, of which there is a larger and a smaller sort, together with that of black flies and of sand-flies. Such is the misery these insects occasion, that the settlers generally, in summer, regardless of the heat, fill their houses almost to suffocation with smoke, in order to get rid of these tormentors.

Saturday, 14th.-A violent east wind forced us to take shelter in a bay, not many miles from the Narrows. Verily, this is a vexatious kind of travelling! I am truly glad it is over. The steamer remained in this harbour, weather-bound, till early on