Perhaps even more portentous to Brock was the state of mind of the average soldier in Canada. These men had come from Britain where the garrison life was pleasant and full of incident and where the cities offered excitement and amusement. Canada was a great contrast. It was sparsely populated. There were no cities, as these British soldiers understood the term, and the sameness of the life aroused unrest and discontent. The United States offered an easy refuge for deserters. There was to be had across the border the daily eventfulness and excitement which soldiers wanted. Desertions were frequent, and becoming more so, and Brock saw the danger for his men of the 49th. He did all he could to make their lot, under not very accommodating circumstances, a happy one, but the spirit of the regiment was not the cheerful one it had been a year or so before. Brock had not been long in Canada before trouble began in the regiment. He had an idea that one of his men, Carr by name, was waiting his chance to desert. He questioned him closely, but the man was sullen. “Tell me the truth like a man,” said Brock. “You know I have always treated you kindly.” The man broke down at the words and tone of his commander and confessed that he and others were planning to desert to the United States. Here we see that Brock was a man who knew human nature. He decided to cure by kindness, and he ordered Carr to tell his companions of what had happened. “Tell them that, notwithstanding what you have told me, I shall still treat you all kindly,” he said. “Let them desert me if they please.” Wise Isaac Brock! He knew the value of placing a man on his honor. After a short stay at Quebec, Brock and his men began their journey to York, the small but important town that was later to become the great city of Toronto. The 49th journeyed by water, for there were no trains. A schooner took the men up to Montreal, where, after resting, they took boats up the St. Lawrence. Picture what it meant to brave the wildness and storm of our great river, to these voyagers a waterway quite unknown, in small and open boats. They had a new experience in portaging their boats where the rapids were too strong for them. They plied their oars through the exquisite loveliness of the Thousand Islands, and Brock, remembering the fairyland of Guernsey, must have marvelled at this country which, in one place, had a thousand islands, some of them almost as big as Sark. Eventually the 49th arrived at Kingston, the second stage. They made the rest of the journey over Lake Ontario in another swiftly sailing schooner.