Canada -- Description and travel; Canada -- Emigration and immigration
service to us; he has been backwards and forwards several times and
knows the ropes well. He took us to an exchange office where he said
we should get the most value for our money, which turned out to be
$4 86c., about par I believe. He and everyone else that I asked said
that the idea of a premium on English money was a myth, that $4 86c.
was the highest, and that only in gold; for a fiver that Dr. Marsh
exchanged he only got $24 instead of $24 30c. Well, we shall see
when we get to Montreal and deliver the circular notes. The landing
and all the Customs business was a great nuisance, though we got
through capitally. I waited quietly till the hoorooche was all over,
and then went and collared the most benevolent-looking old chap to
come and stir up our baggage. I had them all unstrapped and ready,
and he just looked into one or two and then asked me if I had
anything in them that was not my own wearing apparel, or that had
not been worn. I said no (there were lots of things that hadn't been
worn, but then they _were_ my own wearing apparel), so he chalked
them all up without even desiring that Henry's big box might be
opened, which was very lucky, as it would have been a great nuisance
to have to knock those plates off the keyholes. I think it is a
great mistake to put them on; there is no fear of the things getting
wet down in the steerage deck where they are stowed, and they may
possibly cause a lot of delay going through the Customs House. Then
came our first experience of Canadian Railways, _not_ a pleasant
one. We were told the train would start at 2.15, accordingly we
dispensed with dinner and were on the platform at the stated time,
but the train never moved till nearly five o'clock. Then the baggage
chequing business turned out a great nuisance, the men went down to
cheque it while I was away getting the tickets, and when I came back
they had all gone away. In this democratic country they could not be
put to the inconvenience of coming back again, so I had to wait
about till they came to cart it up to the train. I do not mean to
say there would be any of this bother in travelling about from
station to station, it was only during the confusion of landing when
a lot of people all wanted their things done at the same time, and
the baggage all had to be brought up from the wharf, still it was an
item in our first railway experiences which, coupled with the delay
in starting, put me out of temper with Canadian travelling, though
there is not a shadow of doubt but what the chequing system is a
great deal superior to our own. However, when we did get fairly
under weigh it was not so bad. It is certainly very nice to be able
to get up and walk about when one gets tired of sitting still, or go
and stand on the platforms outside. Then, their rules are far less
strict than ours. If a man likes to jump on or off while a train is
going full speed ahead he can, nobody has the least objection to his
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account