SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

TRAVELS,

The Canada, in 11341. Hy Sir Richard H. Bonnyeastle, Lieutenant•Colonel Royal Engineers, and Lieulteset•Colonel in the Militia of Upper Canada. In two volumes. Cabala.

STATISTICS,

Facts and Figures; a Periodical Record of Statistics applied to Current Questions. No. I Hooper.

DONNYCASTLE'S CANADAS.

SIR R. H. BOPINYCASTLB has resided in Canada for many years, and has visited every part of it in his official capacity as an officer of Engineers or military commandant. He made a voyage of inspection in company with a late Governor, Lord AYLMER, to New Brunswick, the dangerous and desert island of Anticosti, and the gloomy shores of Labrador : he was also engaged during the late civil war in opposing the designs of the Americans and Cana- dian refugees on part of the frontier of Upper Canada. The experience, or at least a part of the experience thus collected, Colonel BONNYCASTLE has infused into the volumes before us; not always as the narrative of a tour, nor always as a descriptive account, but a mixture of both. He narrates a particu- lar voyage across the Atlantic, with the ascent of the St. Lawrence to Quebec, and thence by steam and coach to Montreal and Kingston: the description of the extraordinary scene the Thousand Islands, and of Kingston, is of a more general character. A voyage to Toronto on Lake Ontario, Toronto itself, and many chapters on the Upper Lakes, the newly-settled or yet unsettled country in their vicinity, and some glimpses of bush-life and the Red Indians, are of a compound kind ; a particular tour seeming to be the basis, enriched with anecdotes and general description derived from residence or frequent inspection. The descriptive accounts of Niagara, and that gigantic undertaking the Rideau Canal, are from frequent surveys ; return-travelling by land from Toronto to Kingston, is a piece of topography ; Lord AYLMER'S voyage of in- spection down the St. Lawrence to the rarely-visited islands and districts around each side of its mouth, is a regular narrative.

Without being striking in style, or of any particular novelty in matter, the book is various and agreeable, with a good many points which the public avocations or professional training of the author have enabled him to lay hold of. But, considering the time and opportunities of Sir RICHARD BONNYCASTLE, The Canadas in 1841 is scarcely equal to what might have been looked for. The topics of the author are too constantly material; there is too little of the people, and their manners and means—too little of life. The most useful parts of the book are numerous scattered no- tices as to the engineering capabilities of the country—its yet unused or imperfectly-developed lines of communication by land and water, and its commanding points whether for war or trade. The most striking features are the description of Niagara ; the visit to the Indian settlement and fishing-stations at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, whither no traveller has ever been before, and no one perhaps except on business ; and the account of the Rideau Canal, though this last is scarcely broad enough for popular apprehension and not particular enough as a scientific description—the Colonel neither conveys a distinct and general impression himself, nor fur- nishes the details by which one can be gained. Though Niagara has often been described, we think Colonel BONNYCASTLE'S description one of the best ; for he looks at it with the eye of an engineer. Not that he is insensible to the magnifi- cence of this monarch of waterfalls ; nor, on the other hand, can he rise to the poetical description of MOORE, who pictures the mass of falling waters by a few touches : but he has reconnoitered Niagara from every point ; and, besides describing the Falls them- selves, he carries the reader down the stream to the whirpool and its other features. Anybody who goes to Upper Canada, intend- ing to visit the Falls, should carry with him Colonel BONNYCASTLE'S book, or transcribe the passage ; it is a perfect guide to Niagara. Whether when he got there he might have nerve to visit all the points of sight, is another matter. For example, after viewing the Fall from the " rock," one of the regular show-places- "You must descend to the very edge of the trembling rocky brink of the cauldron on the British side, immediately under the stairs, and sixty or seventy feet below the narrow platform of the rock on which you have stood when you have reached the last of these stairs. This is not to be effected without some trouble, risk, and fatigue ; but it repays all your exertion ; for when you have reached the edge, close to the rainbow or split rock, you are, as it were, at once in a new world : Chaos seems there to have never been disturbed by the regu- larity of Nature, but reigns solemn and supreme. "Place your back against the projecting, blackened, and slime-covered rocks, and look towards the mighty mass of vapour and water before you, around you, beneath you, and above you. Hearing, sight, feeling, become as it were blended and confounded. You are sensible that you exist, perhaps; but in what state of existence, has, for a few minutes, vanished from your imagination. The rocks vibrate under your feet ; the milk-white boiling and mountain surge advances, swells up, subsides, recoils, lashes, and mingles with the thick vapour. An indescribable and terrific, dull, yet deafening sound shakes the air; your nerves feel the concussion ; and the words of surprise which at length escape from your lips are inaudible even to yourself, so awfully stem is the uproar of the contending air and water in their conflict for mastery. "The ideas which first struck me when I had recovered from this stupor of astonishment, were those of being swept away by the foaming mountains, bubbling, seething in the huge cauldron at my feet ; of being on the point of losing the sense of hearing, for my temerity in venturing to pry so nearly into the unattainable mystenes of Nature ; and of instant annihilation from the mass of overhanging black and beetling rock above my head, at an absolute height of nearly two hundred feet. In fact, I experienced the same sensations so beautifully described by Shakspeare in Lear, but from a reverse cause; so true is it, that extremes meet. rbecame giddy and confounded by looking at and up to the dizzy scene, instead of from glancing the eye down towards tut unfathomable abyss of air and water below. " There are few visiters who venture to the ' imminent deadly breach ' of the edge of the cauldron, and of the Split Rainbow Rock. These form a huge mass, buried cables deep in the gulf, fallen headlong from above, rent by the fall in twain nearly to its base, wedged into the lip of the cauldron, and towering twenty or thirty feet above the mounting surge. How it became so transfixed, baffies conjecture, for it was evidently hurled from the table-rock above.

"This rainbow rock, as it is called, or Iris' throne, from the extremity of the are appearing to rest upon it when you view the great fall from the rocky table above, cannot now be approached so easily. The ladder by which, at much personal hazard, its flat and slippery surface was gained, has been swept away by the raging flood; and it is, perhaps, fortunate that it is so, for the experiment of gaining and standing on the surface was attended with great risk.

"I saw one person, whilst I was sketching the scene, actually lying down at full length upon the edge of it, with his head twojected over, to look into the very cauldron. I shuddered at the hardihood displayed, for a false movement would be inevitable and instant destruction on that slippery platform. When he descended the ladder, I told him what I had felt : and he was fully aware of his danger, but said, that from his childhood he had been a ranger in the Alps,

" To add to the difficulties of your situation on the edge of the cauldron, the descending and ascending spray is so great, that you are wet through very soon ; whilst the clouds of arrowy sleet driving in your eyes render sketching not very pleasant ; whilst, to add to your stock of ideas, you behold a truly Freischiitz display—for, crawling at your feet, amidst a mass of ground and splintered timber, bones, and shivered rock, are the loathsome and large black toad, the hideously-deformed black lizard, eels of a most equivocal appearance, and even that prototype of the eel the fierce black water-serpent."

About four miles from the Falls, is THE WHIRLPOOL OF NIAGARA.

"After crossing a field or two, you enter into a beautiful wood; and, going through it for a quarter of a mile, begin to descend, by a narrow, obscure, and winding path, cut out of the mountain, which is covered with the primeval forest. The descent is not very difficult, perfectly safe, and with a little ex- pense would be pleasant. It leads to the centre of the bay-coast of the whirl- pool, where there are but few rocks, and a narrow shingle beach. Here you see the vastness of the scene, the great expanse of the circular basin, the Man of mountain which encloses it almost to its very edge, and the overhanging Table Rock, nearly like that at the Falls, and probably produced by a similar cause, the disintegration of the slate-beds under the more unyielding lime- stone.

"So extensive, however, is the surface of water, that the huge trunks of trees floating in the concentric circles of the whirling waters, when they reach their ultimate doom in the actual vortex, appear still not larger than small logs. They revolve for a great length of time, touching the shores in their extreme gyrations, and then, as the circles narrow, are tossed about with increasing ra- pidity, until in the middle, the largest giants of the forest are lifted perpendi- cularly, and appear to be sucked under, after a time, altogether.

"A singular part of the view is the very sharp angle of the precipice, and ite bank of debris on the American side. You also just catch a view of the foaming rapid on the right; and an attentive observer will perceive that in the centre of the vast basin of the whirlpool the water is several feet higher than at the edges, appearing to boil up from the bottom. It varies, I should think, in the degrees of its agitation, depending perhaps on the increase or diminution of the quantity of supplied water; for there have been instances of persons who have attempted to save the timber floating round it, having, by their want of caution, allowed themselves to be engulfed, and yet escaping at last. A. soldier a few years ago, I think of the Sixty-eighth Regiment, got thus drawn from the edge, and was whirled round and round for several hours, but saved at last by the exertions of the neighbouring farmers, who came with ropes to his rescue. I have heard naval men say, that they thought a stout boat might cross; but I confess, from the manner in which the largest trees are treated, notwithstanding their buoyancy, I should be very unwilling to try the experi- ment, and it is known that persons have been destroyed."

We will turn from the beauties of nature to the beauties of pro- perty. Although Canada cannot vie with some other colonies in a rapid advance in the value of land, (perhaps the advance is on that account the more solid and secure,) yet the rise has been consi- derable, even in what within the memory of man was a wilderness.

LAND AT TORONTO, AND TORONTO ITSELF.

The value of property here is incredible. On the military reserve, now form- ing into the new Western portion of the city, acre-lots sold by Government fetched five and six hundred pounds, at some distance from the parts of the city built upon. Building-ground in the populous streets is worth from tea pounds to twenty pounds a foot, and will no doubt be much higher; and thug many persons who were formerly very needy, and who obtained the land as grants when it was of little value, are now amongst the richest. Until about six or seven years ago, the buildings in Toronto were mostly of wood, as stone is not found in sufficient cient quantity n the neighbourhood; and consequently, fires frequently devastated the town. Brick has since been chiefly employed, as the soil is so good a clay that the foundation and cellsrage of a house often yield the necessary material for the superstructure. King Street, the main artery of the city, promises to be very handsome; already many excellent brick stores and houses line its sides, and in the shops the superfluous luxuries of large plate-glass and brass railings are beginning to appear. It is well paved with flag-walks, and a broad belt of round stone on each side, with a broken stone road in the centre. A capacious and very ex- tensive sewer runs under the whole.

WAGES, RENTS, STYLE OF LIVING AND INCOMES AT TORONTO.

Families emigrating to Toronto will wish to know as well about markets as about servants and house-rent. Servants are not in general of the best kind. Females coming out usually get married after a short service, and settle either as the wives of mechanics or farmers; and men or boys obtain so much wages as mechanics or labourers, that it is obviously their interest to seek such em- ployment. A good mason or carpenter may stipulate for 6s. or 7s. 6d. a day: a labourer gets constant employment at from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 9d., according to the nature of his work ; and many of them, by keeping a horse and cart and a cow, may double that amount.

Considering that from eight to ten dollars a month (forty to fifty shillings currency) are the highest wages given to men-servants, and from four to six dollars to women (I mean as an average, for some of the higher classes give more, in order to keep their servants with them,) with their daily food, it is not to be wondered at that, in a cheap country, they seek labour with a view to ultimate rest on property independently derived.

House-rent is high at Toronto. A good house for a small family, consisting of two stories, with kitchen and cellar, perhaps about five or six rooms above the level of the street, costs forty-five or fifty pounds a year, and about two pounds for road and other city-taxes. With this limited accommodation, there is generally a small stable and sleigh-house, and a yard just sufficient to hold about half the wood required for the winter, which, for a family able to sant Bache jodgulg, would amount to above thirty or forty cords. Stoves are gene- rally used, although coals from the State of Ohio, an Lake Erie, are coming into the market, by way of the Welland Canal, and cost at present from 15.6d.

to Is. 8d. per bushel. • •

The highest official income in Upper Canada is that of the Chief Justice, which may be about 2,0001.; whilst those of the first rank seldom reach more than 1,000/. A private person with 1,200/. a year is reckoned very rich, and it is doubtful whether there are many who can regularly command that in- come from any source.

Several of the wealthy members of society are persons originally belonging to the civil branches of the Army, or who held office under the first governors ; and those who were fortunate enough to obtain grants of land, or get them at the rates they first sold for when York was a paltry village, are now the mag- nates of Toronto. Land which then would scarcely fetch a dollar, or five shillings an acre, is now worth, in some situations, almost as many thousand pounds.

A good many Red Indians of various races are found in Canada; partly attracted, it would seem, by the superior faith of the Bri- tish Government ; for the remains of a tribe expelled from their hunting-grounds by the United States came to Canada during our author's sojourn, and threw themselves upon the Governor. They were favourably received, their immediate wants provided for, and the usual presents distributed. But the change from the free hunting-grounds to the half-settled wilderness, and the tempta- tions of civilized life, was too much for them : they gave way to drink; and after they had squandered their blankets, &c. for strong water, our author saw them, some months later, in a state of half- starvation at Toronto.

Another effort had been made in the furthest boundary of the colony to settle some other Indians. This had a temporary suc- cess; but Colonel BONNYCASTLE intimates that the settlement was greatly injured, if not broken up, by itinerant sectarian preachers, who perplexed the Indians by the variety of tenets. "Some of the most sensible did not admire work, work, work,' 'pray, pray, pray,' when most of their work went to pay people who would not work themselves."

The tribe of Mohawks, once so celebrated for their ferocity, now seem to be among the most docile ; and upon them the Colonel expatiates with military unction—for they were volunteers under him in the border war, and he is himself a chief of the tribe. "How different the Molawks of the midland district, near Kingston, on the Napanee road! Here a chaplain is appointed to administer the rites and ser- vices of the English Church. The people are happy and contented; many of them possess property of value; and it is not an uncommon thing to see a Mo- hawk driving along in his little waggon, with every appearance of comfort. "1 have reasons of a powerful nature to speak well of the Mohawks of the Indian woods. No sooner did the alarm of invasion from the United States, in 1837, sound through the province, than these moral and well-conducted people collected all their waggons, arms, and ammunition, and drove to.Kingston. They marched in with the Union-jack flying, and offered me their:services to go into barracks and guard the approaches to the fortress and town. "I kept them for some time ; determined, however, not to employ them against the few misled people of the province who took up arms, and only to oppose them to the robbers and plunderers from the opposite shores, who were no better than so many pirates, without a shadow of excuse for the villanous breach of the law of nations. I well knew that the name of Indian was a terror to these vagabonds; and therefore retained the faithful Mohawks till Van RanseLlaer, Wells, Bill Johnson, and the Lady of the Lake, the Trulla of French Creek were frightened out of their temporary hold of Hickory Island. The Indians, they knew, would have shown them no mercy ; and I verily believe that they thought twice before they acted once, as long as the Mohawks were in their neighbourhood. "Even at the risk of being charged with egotism, I cannot help, when the militia of Upper Canada come across my mind, dwelling upon the reminiscences of them. These Indians were part of that militia, being regularly organized under a captain-leader and three chiefs; but they served, excepting the cap- tain, who was a Militia-officer without pay, scorning to receive it in the defence of their Great Mother and their beloved country. A fowling-piece or two, a few yards of ribbon, some silk handkerchiefs for their squaws, who were left at home, and a trilling quantity of tobacco, powder, and shot, sent them back to their woods as happy as possible. "We held a parting council; and after many curious ceremonies, they enrolled me as a chief, by the euphonous cognomen of Anodaheso, or he who summons the town. The first three syllables of this appellation are so very like Canada, that I begin to have some faith in the theory of those writers who assert that the country is so named from the Indians having always pointed to their vil- lages, exclaiming, Canada I—which may have meant the town par excellence."

Their civilization or amalgamation seems at best, however, a difficult task, even if more efficient instruments and means than any at present existing were employed. The blood, or whatever that mysterious quality may be which determines character, seems to be opposed to civilization, and ready to break out on the first tempta- tion, like .sop's cat ; whilst, we are told, the half-breeds invariably degenerate. Upon the former point our author furnishes a curious anecdote- " I have seen the Red man in all his relative situations of warrior, hunter, tiller of the soil, and preacher of the word : I have seen him wholly wild, but never wholly civilized ; for the best specimen of an Indian missionary I am acquainted with, in Upper Canada, forgot all his instruction, all his acquired feelings and habits, when he witnessed with me the war-dance of heathen and perfectly savage warriors. He had been carefully educated from a boy ; spoke English perfectly ; was modest, intelligent, and well-bred ; guided his young family excellently ; and did not intrude his professional habits and opinions when in society, nor seemed to be in the least elevated by his superior acqui- sitions. Yet he grinned with savage delight at this exhibition of untutored nature. And when I asked him if it was not a blessing that the Indian had listened to the mild spirit of the White man's religion, and having i proved him- self capable of appreciating it, that he might be the means of imparting its doctrines to the savage natures before us, who displayed human frailty in its lowest state of degradation, he calmly replied, ' What you say, my friend, is true ; but I never before saw my Red brother in the condition of an absolute and acknowledged warrior. Ah 1 he is very brave ! My father was as brave and as wild as be is; and often have I hid me from his frown in the depths of the woods. Listen, the warrior is telling of his battles! I will interpret the brave man's speech to you.' And, excited beyond the power of control by his native feelings, he went on translating the mighty deeds of a second Walk-ins the-Water, or Young Wolf, or Snapping Turtle, or some other chief of equally euphonous and terrible cognomen. He staid out a second edition of the

war-story, and even of the pipe-dance; which latter exhibition a European missionary would consider himself justly degraded by being present at ; and I left him involved in rapid discourse with the heathen warriors."