Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West: The Experience of an Early Settler (Volume I)Strickland, Samuel
History
Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West: The Experience of an Early Settler (Volume I)
Strickland, Samuel
Ontario -- Description and travel
According to an act of the Provincial Parliament, six dollars must be
paid by the county treasurer for every wolf-certificate, signed by a
magistrate. No certificate now will be granted, unless the scalp of the
animal is produced, which is then taken possession of by the
magistrate. This precaution is absolutely necessary; for, previously to
this arrangement, it was found that double the number of wolves were
killed, or, rather twice the number of scalps were brought in—one wolf
often furnishing two pates—a curious feature in Natural History.
Many petty frauds of this kind have been brought to light; amongst
other cases, that of a magistrate, not a hundred miles from the county
town, who forged seventeen wolf certificates, and succeeded in getting
the money for them; and, most likely, emboldened by his success, would
have continued to drive a flourishing trade, had not his career been
suddenly stopped in the following manner.
One of the persons, whose name had been made use of in one or more of
the certificates, was congratulated on his recent success. He, however,
denied that he had either shot or trapped a wolf during the last year,
and declared, “that there must certainly be some mistake.” An inquiry
was accordingly made, whereupon the whole nefarious transaction was
brought to light.
Our magistrate was not long in availing himself of the proximity of the
United States; for the next day saw him an inhabitant of the good city
of Rochester, in the State of New York, where, I make no doubt, over
gin-cocktail, or mint-julep, he entertains the free and enlightened
citizens with an account of his adroit manner of “sloping” the British
Government. Luckily for Rochester, there are no wolves in that
neighbourhood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West: The Experience of an Early Settler (Volume I) — John Shaqi
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