Sketches in Canada, and rambles among the red menJameson, Mrs. (Anna)
History
Sketches in Canada, and rambles among the red men
Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)
Indians of North America -- Canada; Ontario -- Description and travel
Next day we went on a fishing and shooting excursion to Lake Cuchuching,
and to see the beautiful rapids of the river Severn, the outlet from
these lakes into Lake Huron. If I had not exhausted all my superlatives
of delight, I could be eloquent on the charms of this exquisite little
lake, and the wild beauty of the rapids. Of our _sport_, I only
recollect the massacre of a dozen snakes, which were holding a kind of
conversazione in the hollow of a rocky islet where we landed to dine.
The islands in Lake Cuchuching belong to the Indian chief, the
Yellow-head; and I understand that he and others of his tribe have
lately petitioned for _legal titles_ to their reserved lands. They
represent to their Father the governor that their prosperity is retarded
from the circumstance of their not having titles to their lands, like
their white brethren. They say, "Many of our young men, and some of our
chiefs, fear that the time will arrive when our white brethren will
possess themselves of our farms; whereas, if our Father the governor
would be pleased to grant us titles, we should work with more
confidence,"--and they _humbly_ entreat (these original lords of the
soil!) as a particular boon, that their "little bits of land" may be
secured to their children and posterity for ever.
Next morning we embarked on board the Peter Robinson steamer, and
proceeded down Lake Simcoe. This most beautiful piece of water is above
forty miles in length, and about twenty in breadth, and is in winter so
firmly frozen over, that it is crossed in sledges in every direction.
The shores are flat and fertile; and we passed a number of clearings,
some very extensive. On a point projecting into the lake, and surrounded
by cleared land, a village has been laid out, and some houses built. I
went into one of them to rest while they were taking in wood, and found
there the works of Shakspeare and Walter Scott, and a good guitar; but
the family were absent.
REACH THE HOLLAND LANDING.
We reached the Holland Landing, at the southern extremity of the lake,
about three o'clock; and the rest of our way lay through the Home
District, and through some of the finest land and most prosperous
estates in Upper Canada. It was a perpetual succession, not of
clearings, such as I had seen of late, but of well-cultivated farms. The
vicinity of the capital, and an excellent road leading to it (called
Yonge Street), have raised the value of landed property here, and some
of the farmers are reputed rich men.
Mr. Jarvis gave me an account of an Irish emigrant, a labouring man, who
had entered his service some years ago as teamster (or carter); he was
then houseless and penniless. Seven years afterwards the same man was
the proprietor of a farm of two hundred acres of cleared and cropped
land, on which he could proudly set his foot, and say, "It is mine, and
my children's after me!"
ARRIVE HOME AT TORONTO.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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