Life in the Clearings versus the Bush — John Shaqi
Life in the Clearings versus the BushMoodie, Susanna
History
Life in the Clearings versus the Bush
Moodie, Susanna
Frontier and pioneer life -- Ontario; Moodie, Susannah, 1803-1885; Ontario -- Description and travel
At four o'clock in the afternoon most of the wonder-watchers had
retired, disgusted with the tardy movements of the ice monster, when a
cry arose from the banks of the river, to warn the few persons who still
loitered on the bridge, to look out. The ice was in motion. Every one
within hearing rushed to the river. We happened to be passing at the
time, and, like the rest, hurried to the spot. The vast pile, slowly,
almost imperceptibly, began to advance, giving an irresistible impulse
to the shore ice, that still held good, and which was instantly
communicated to the large pieces that blocked the arch of the bridge,
over which the waves now poured in a torrent, pushing before them the
great lumps which up to the present moment had been immoveably wedged.
There was a hollow, gurgling sound, a sullen roar of waters, a cracking
and rending of the shore-bound ice, and the ponderous mass smote the
bridge; it parted asunder, and swift as an arrow the crystal mountain
glided downwards to the bay, spurning from its base the waves that
leaped and foamed around its path, and pouring them in a flood of waters
over the west bank of the river.
Beyond the loss of a few old sheds along the shore, very little damage
was sustained by the town. The streets near the wharfs were inundated
for a few hours, and the cellars filled with water; but after the exit
of the iceberg, the river soon subsided into its usual channel.
The winter of 1852 was one of great length and severity. The snow in
many of the roads was level with the top rail of the fences, and the
spring thaw caused heavy freshets through the colony. In the upper part
of the province, particularly on the grand river, the rising of the
waters destroyed a large amount of valuable mill property. One
mill-owner lost 12,000 saw logs. Our wild, bright Moira was swollen to
the brim, and tumbled along with the impetuosity of a mountain torrent.
Its course to the bay was unimpeded by ice, which had been all carried
out a few days before by a high wind; but vast quantities of saw logs
that had broken away from their bosoms in the interior were plunging in
the current, sometimes starting bolt upright, or turning over and over,
as if endued with the spirit of life, as well as with that of motion.
Several of these heavy timbers had struck the upper bridge, and carried
away the centre arch. A poor cow, who was leisurely pacing over to her
shed and supper, was suddenly precipitated into the din of waters. Had
it been the mayor of the town, the accident could scarcely have produced
a greater excitement. The cow belonged to a poor Irishman, and the
sympathy of every one was enlisted in her fate. Was it possible that she
could escape drowning amid such a mad roar of waves? No human arm could
stem for a moment such a current; but fortunately for our heroine, she
was not human, but only a stupid quadruped.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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