Part 17

“The branches were first piled up and burned; then the great stems, which had been cut into pieces about twelve feet long, were drawn together by the oxen, and with much labour raised into piles, and set on fire. This was a very dangerous operation, for some of them were very near our wooden house; and the whole surface of the ground is combustible, as for several inches deep it is composed of leaves and bark, and looks like a bed of peat earth. When this takes fire the flames rapidly spread, and are very difficult to extinguish; but we are now safe.

“The Indians sometimes walk into our house; but they are harmless and inoffensive, and ask only for whiskey, which they like better than any thing else. They bring baskets, and little bowls, and dishes made of the bark of the birch-tree, and are glad to sell them for spirits, flour, or pork. They come down the river in their canoes, and can paddle them across the rapids just opposite this house, where no European could venture in a boat.

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“_June 5th._--Our first spring flowers were hepaticas, which actually carpeted the ground as daisies do at home; they were single, but very large, and blue, pink, and white. We had the pretty yellow dog-tooth violets in profusion; then white and crimson lilies; both of them handsome, but with an odious smell: there was another very elegant-looking plant, with a leaf like fumitory, the root a collection of reddish bulbs, and the flower something like a butterfly orchis.

* * * * *

“We have now abundance of yellow, white, and purple violets, but the white only have a sweet smell. There is also a beautiful yellow lady’s slipper, and numerous other flowers, which I may describe some other time.

“Our shrubs are leatherwood, cranberry, dog-wood, Alpine honeysuckle without scent, and syringa. The trees are elm, maple, oak, beech, cedar, hemlock pine, hiccory, and lime. The oak grows tall and straight; but all the trees grow tall and straight in these forests. I spend what time I can spare in examining the trees and plants that are new to me; I wish my botanical friend Miss Perceval was here to assist me.--We have a great deal of the moss, or rather the tillandsia, about which you inquire; it hangs from almost every tree, and we saw it in quantities along the banks of the St. Lawrence, before we reached Quebec. The captain of our vessel told us it was used in the States to stuff beds; and that he had carried some home to his wife for the same purpose.

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“_July 1st._--I must give you a sketch of the manner in which we pass our time. Mr. * * * goes out at five, and returns to breakfast at seven; he then works at his farm till twelve, when dinner is ready; after which he rests some time, and again works till eight, when I summon him to coffee. Household cares and preparations occupy me all the morning, and teaching the children, and working for them, the rest of the day. After they go to bed I have a nice hour for writing or reading.

“It is the custom for the ladies in this country to dress in the morning very plainly, and suited to the hard work in which we must all take a part; after dinner they put on silk gowns and smart caps, and either go out to pay visits, or stay at home to receive them. But we live in such perfect solitude in these woods, that we have no neighbours to go to, or to expect here. We are going on as yet with smiling prospects, and doing something every day that tends to our comfort; but we must be contented to advance very slowly.

“In spite of every effort, my thoughts too often turn to dear _home_ and to former times, or sometimes they take a far stretch forward; but these are only airy visions which I do not encourage. Yet I cannot help praying that we may be permitted to meet again in a few years. I fear setting my heart too much on this, but I trust to the support of Providence under every disappointment, and under every trial. Trials we must have in all places, still more in these dreary woods.”

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_29th._--I heard lately that several of those greenhouse plants which are natives of swamps, if planted in a pond, the bottom of which never freezes, would grow as well as if in their own country: I have therefore asked permission to try this experiment, and my aunt let me have a plant of the long-leaved _amaryllis_, and one of the Ethiopian _calla_. We broke the pots they were in, that the roots might not be disturbed, and then put them into small open baskets, with a fresh compost round them. My uncle had places made in the bottom of the pond, which is about two feet deep, and the baskets were plunged into them, and the soil at the bottom drawn close round.

The gardener thinks the salt dross has been effectual in destroying the wire-worm in my carnation beds; so last week he added a small quantity of sharp sand, and then the beds were dug, and raked nicely for planting. Yesterday and this morning I have been busy planting out my layers, and as I stirred the ground with my scoop trowel, I could perceive no traces of my old enemies.

A few weeks ago I raked off half the layer of peat earth, with which I had covered my ixia, gladiolus, and oxalis beds, to preserve them from the frosts; I have now raked off the other half, and the beds being carefully forked up, I hope in May to have some nice flowers there.

This is a most busy time in the garden, forking and dressing the borders, mending the edgeings, earthing up peas and beans--continually watching and defending the blossoms of the wall fruit, pruning trees, preparing hot-beds, and sowing cauliflower, lettuce, onion, broccoli, radishes, &c. &c., and in _our_ garden, planting out flowers and removing offsets; dressing and protecting the beds of spring flowers that are going to blossom, and sowing sundry annuals. In short, everything is alive, and everybody anxious not to lose a moment while the weather is so favourable.

_30th._--I have been reading all the accounts I could find of ants; and am surprised to find how many curious circumstances there are in the history of some of the species of this country, and of France.

Frederick knew where there was an ant-hill, and took me there, when they began to revive on a sunny day, a few weeks since. We observed numbers coming out of the ground, as if roused by the warmth, and assembling in crowds on the top of their nest; they were in continual motion, walking over it and even over one another, and yet without quitting the spot. This lasted for a few days, and then they began to repair the upper stories of their dwelling, which had been spoiled by rain and snow. We frequently watch them, and they appear to be incessantly engaged at this work till it is quite dark.

They certainly give us an example of perseverance; but their foresight in laying up a store of grain for winter is now considered to be an unfounded idea; for they are nearly torpid during the winter, and do not require provisions. May it not be said, however, that they shew forethought and contrivance in regard to their friends the aphides, which I mentioned sometime ago in my journal?

The yellow ant, for instance, which seldom leaves its home, and likes to have its comforts within reach, usually collects in its nest a large _herd_ of a kind of aphis, that derives its nutriment from the roots of grass. These are conveyed by subterranean galleries into the nest, so that, without going out, it has a constant supply of food. The ants bestow as much care on these little milch-cows as on their own offspring, and pay particular attention to their eggs, moistening them with their tongue, carrying them tenderly in their mouth, and placing them in the sun to be hatched. When Frederick opened one of the ant-hills, we observed a parcel of these little black eggs very near the surface; and the ants were so distressed at our visit, that they immediately began to carry the eggs to the inside of the nest. By hatching these eggs early, they provide future food for their own families; and I am sure that is shewing forethought. This aphis yields a great quantity of that sweet fluid of which the ants are so fond; it flows from two hair-like tubes, placed one on each side, and the ants, who watch for the moment when it is ready, suck it down immediately. It is said, that the ants can make the aphides yield this fluid at any time by patting them with their antennæ; and when they have milked one of their little cows, they go to another.

As to all the varieties of the tropical ants, the inhabitants of South America know but too much of them already; but I must tell you of a use to which, in another country, their nests have been applied, and which you could scarcely have guessed. In the southern part of Africa, they raise solid nests of clay, in shape like a baker’s oven. The Caffres, when first permitted to settle at Gnadenthal, one of the Moravina settlements, converted these tumuli into ovens. Having expelled the inhabitants by smoke, they scooped them out hollow, leaving a crust of a few inches in thickness; and then used them for baking their loaves. The clay of which these nests are formed is so well prepared by those industrious animals, that it is used for floors of rooms by the Hottentots, and even by the Dutch farmers.

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

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FOOTNOTE:

[A] Numbers vi. 24, 25, 26.