Part 15

The approach to the town of Windsor, from the western road, is by a handsome wooden bridge, recently constructed over the river Avon, which was formerly crossed by means of an inconvenient and unsafe ford, passable only at low water. The Avon takes its rise in the extensive lakes that lie between Chester and Windsor; but, though navigable for some miles above the latter place, it would be little better than a large brook, were it not for the augmentation it receives from the flow of the tide from the Bason of Minas, which occasions an extraordinary rise and fall of the river at Windsor; being about thirty feet at spring tides. The Avon receives the Kennetcook, Cockmagon, and the St. Croix rivers, a short distance below Windsor, and discharges their united streams into the Bason of Minas. The country in the neighbourhood of the town is exceedingly beautiful, being agreeably diversified with hill, dale, and lawn. The luxuriance of the meadows,—the chain of high hills on the south and west, clothed with wood of variegated foliage,—and the white sails of vessels gliding through the serpentine windings of the Avon and St. Croix,—are amongst the leading features of this interesting landscape. Windsor is an extremely neat and pretty town, with a Protestant church, and Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Roman Catholic chapels. The private houses are numerous and tastefully built, and have, with few exceptions, large gardens and orchards attached to them. On an elevated and beautiful spot of ground, a short distance from the town, stands the University of King’s College, which has the power of bestowing degrees, similar to those granted by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The View of Windsor, shown in the accompanying engraving, was taken from a spot near the residence of Judge Haliburton,—better known in the world of letters on both sides of the Atlantic, as the author of the humorous “Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick,” the first work that ever truly delineated that most singularly amusing character—a Down-East dealer—and gave us a correct picture of the quaint, shrewd, impudent, but good-humoured Yankee, in all his striking originality of thought and action.

The spectator, in this view, is supposed to be looking down the river Avon, towards the bay: beneath him is seen the picturesque town, with its new bridge; and in the distance, the winding shores, to which the rich woods and cultivated farms give a diversified and beautiful appearance. THE RESIDENCE OF JUDGE HALIBURTON is a small but elegant structure, delightfully situated on an eminence, which, as I have just observed, commands a noble prospect of the whole township. This charming retreat is surrounded by thriving plantations of beech, white maple, poplar, juniper, and other ornamental trees. Fruits of the most delicate kinds are produced in the garden; indeed, the sheltered situation of Windsor is peculiarly favourable for raising the tender produce of more genial climates. Mr. Haliburton remarks, that “peaches, though subject, from the early blossoms they put forth, to be injured by frosts, have been known to ripen without artificial aid or even common shelter; and grapes, pears, and quinces, and a great variety of summer and autumnal plums, arrive at perfection in all ordinary seasons.”

The communication between Halifax and New Brunswick is maintained by means of steam packets, which ply between St. John and Windsor, from which latter place there is an excellent mail-coach road to Halifax. The passage across the Bay of Fundy, and through the Bason of Minas, is said to be rather dangerous, owing to the rapid tides, the rocky shores, and the fogs which prevail on these coasts.

The Bason of Minas is one of the most remarkable and beautiful inlets in North America. Its entrance is through a strait about three miles in width, with bold craggy shores. Outside this strait, the tides in the Bay of Fundy are rapid but regular; but within, the rise of the tide is greater than in any other part of America; in spring tides it flows to the height of seventy feet in the narrow part of the bason. The phenomenon called the _Bore_ is an attendant or rather precursor of the flood tide, which approaches in a line of foam, extending across the bay about four or five feet high, and rolling over the sands at the rate of four miles, or upwards, an hour. The appearance of the shores of the Bason of Minas, while sailing towards its entrance, is exceedingly beautiful:—the luxuriant woods, lagoons, hills, dales, bays, rivers and headlands, the numerous picturesque islands, the extensive farms, verdant prairies, and thriving villages which meet the eye on every side, form a succession of rich and varied landscapes. Near the entrance of the bason on the western shore is the remarkable headland called Cape Blomedon, or more generally—CAPE BLOW-ME-DOWN, which forms the termination of the chain of hills that run parallel to the shores of the Bay of Fundy from Annapolis. This headland presents a singularly abrupt and imposing appearance; its perpendicular front is of a dark red colour, and its rugged head may be seen at a great distance, emerging from the thick mists by which it is frequently encompassed. On the opposite side of the channel is the pretty little village of Parrsborough, sheltered by the bluff cliff called Partridge Island; which, resisting the force of the tides in the Bay of Fundy, makes a secure harbour for the craft engaged in the navigation of the Bason of Minas and the adjoining rivers. Through the narrow channel between Partridge Island and CAPE SPLIT, at the outer entrance of the bason, the great body of water collected in this immense reservoir escapes into the Bay of Fundy. The singular appearance of this Cape, whose detached masses of rock appear to have been shivered by some mighty convulsion of nature, and shaken from their original foundations, has never failed to excite the surprise and admiration of every stranger who has seen it. A mail-coach road runs from Windsor to Halifax, which crosses the St. Croix river at a short distance from the former place. On the border of the St. Croix Lakes is the hill of Ardoise, the highest land in the province, from whence may be had a distant prospect of Windsor, Falmouth, Newport, and the beautiful country around the Bason of Minas. The road, as we approach Halifax, winds for nearly ten miles along the western shore of Bedford Bason, which is connected with the outer harbour by a narrow passage at the dock yard;—this inner bason is a beautiful sheet of water, containing ten square miles of safe anchorage. The scenery here, though not highly romantic, is agreeably picturesque; and the shores of the bason are indented with numerous coves, and well-sheltered inlets of great beauty. About seven miles from Halifax are the ruins of what was once the favourite country residence of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, when commanding the forces in this province. “It is impossible,” says Mr. Haliburton, “to visit this spot without the most melancholy feelings: the tottering fences, the prostrate gates, the ruined grottoes, the long and winding avenues, cut out of the forest, overgrown by rank grass and occasional shrubs, and the silence and desolation that pervade everything around, all bespeak a rapid and premature decay, recall to mind the untimely fate of its noble and lamented owner, and tell of fleeting pleasures, and the transitory nature of all earthly things. I stopped at a small inn in the neighbourhood, for the purpose of strolling over it for the last time ere I left the country, and for the indulgence of those moralizing musings which at times harmonized with our nerves and awaked what may be called the pleasurable sensations of melancholy.”

The harbour of Halifax is one of the finest in the world:—it is capacious, safe, accessible at all seasons of the year, and easy of approach for vessels of the largest size. Three miles from Halifax and near the mouth of the harbour is MacNab'’ Island, which forms two entrances, called the eastern and western passage; but the former is only used by small vessels. The North-west Arm is an inlet branching off from the main entrance of the harbour, and penetrating about four miles into the land; it winds in the rear of the town until it approaches to within half a mile of Bedford Bason, forming the peninsula upon which the town is built. The situation of Halifax is on the east side of the peninsula, on the declivity of a commanding hill, whose summit is between two and three hundred feet above the level of the sea. Near the southern part of the peninsula stands a strong martello tower, which commands on one side the harbour of Halifax, and that of the Arm on the other. The author of “Sam Slick” gives the following humorous description of the attractions to be found in its neighbourhood. “It is situated,” he writes, “at the termination of a fashionable promenade, which is skirted on one side by a thick shrubbery, and on the other by the waters of the harbour; the former being the resort of those of both sexes who delight in the impervious shade of the spruce, and the latter of those who prefer swimming and other aquatic exercises. With these attractions to the lovers of nature and a pure air, it is thronged at all hours, but more especially at day-dawn, by the valetudinarian, the aged, and infirm; and at the witching hour of moonlight, by those who are young enough to defy the dew and damp air of night.” The streets of Halifax are wide, and intersect each other at right angles; some of them are paved, others macadamized, and from the ascent and nature of the soil are usually dry. The houses, however, are irregularly built, no uniformity in the height and size being observed in their construction; handsome buildings of three and four stories high being intermingled with old and mean looking edifices. The new houses built of wood, being large, neatly finished, and painted white, are more imposing in their appearance than those of brick and stone. Amongst the public buildings, the government house,—the residence of the governor of the province for the time,—is a large gloomy-looking structure, built of freestone, and situated at the southern extremity of the town. The Province Building, which is admitted to be the most splendid edifice in North America, stands within a square in the centre of the town. It is built of freestone quarried in the province, and its plan combines elegance with strength and utility; its length is 140 feet, its breadth 70, and its elevation 45 feet. It contains the chambers of the Council, and Legislative Assembly,—the Supreme Court, with its appendant offices; also all the provincial offices,—the Halifax public library, &c. There are two Episcopal churches; one (St. Paul’s) is a handsome edifice with a tall spire; the other, the Rotunda church, at the north end of the town, is distinguished by a dome which gives it a remarkable appearance. Halifax also contains two Presbyterian, one Methodist, two Baptist, and one Roman Catholic chapel; besides a Sandemanian meeting-house. The court-house is a plain brick building. Dalhousie College, established in 1820, is a spacious and handsome structure, situate at the end of the old military parade.

Viewed from the village of DARTMOUTH, on the opposite shore of the harbour, the town of HALIFAX appears to singular advantage. The front of the town is lined with ships, warehouses, and wharfs, amongst which Cunnard’s wharf, with one of his fine steam-packets lying alongside, forms a conspicuous object. Above these the spires of the different churches and the neat tower of the methodist chapel are seen intermingled with the houses that cover the side of the hill, upon whose summit stands the citadel which commands the town and harbour. To the left, in the distance, is the entrance of the harbour; and nearer to the spectator, the numerous boats and vessels in motion upon the water, with the busy little steam ferry boat plying constantly between Dartmouth and Halifax, give life and animation to the picture.

Halifax has been always the principal naval station of British North America; and though it has lost much of its consequence since the termination of the last war, it is still the most important town in the possession of England in this part of the world, forming as it does the great military and naval depôt for her North American and West Indian colonies. The dock-yard here is the most extensive establishment of the kind out of England; it is enclosed on the land side by a high stone wall, and contains within it every requisite for repairing and refitting the largest ships. On an eminence above the dock-yard, and commanding a view of the harbour, is the residence of the admiral, who commands the squadron on the American station. There is also a large wooden building, at the south end of the town, for the use of the military commandant; with two barracks, a military hospital, ordnance and commissariat stores, &c. Halifax is the station for the North American packets, which convey the mails regularly once a month to and from Falmouth. The old worthless gun-brigs, which, to the disgrace of England, were employed for a length of time in this service, have at length been removed; and the mails are now carried by Cunnard’s splendid steamers, which frequently make the passage from England out in ten days, touch at Halifax, where they deliver the mails, and proceed without delay to Boston, which they generally reach in two days. This increased facility in the communication between England and Nova Scotia will do more towards improving the colony than any thing that has been hitherto attempted, and will be the means of making Halifax one of the most flourishing towns in British North America.

END OF VOL. II.

[2] The descendants of the French who settled in the colonies now possessed by Great Britain are distinguished by the appellations of _Canadians_ and _Acadians_. The former were settled in Canada, and the latter principally in Nova Scotia, then called Acadia. The Acadians are now to be found in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Cape Breton; always by themselves in distinct settlements, and scarcely ever inter-marrying with strangers.

[3] The Acadian women in Prince Edward Island dress after nearly the same fashion as the Bavarian broom-girls. On Sundays their costume is peculiarly neat and picturesque; they wear over their shoulders a small blue cloth cloak reaching only half way down the body, and generally fastened at the breast with an ornamental brass brooch; on week-days they usually wear wooden shoes. The men dress in round blue jackets with standing collars, and rows of shining metal buttons placed closely down the front, scarlet waistcoats, and loose blue trowsers. Mr. McGregor, in describing the Acadian customs, says, “Among all the Acadians in Prince Edward Island I never knew but one person who had the hardihood to dress differently from what they call “notre façon.” On one occasion he ventured to put on an English coat, and he has never since, even among his relations, been called by his proper name, Joseph Gallant, which has been supplanted by that of “Joe Peacock.”

[4] St. John and Miramichi are the two places from whence the exportation of timber is principally carried on in New Brunswick. The town of Miramichi is seated at the mouth of a beautiful and majestic river of the same name, which divides into three great branches, upon whose banks dwell a thinly-scattered population, who employ themselves during the winter chiefly in hewing timber in the woods, and in rafting it down the river in summer to the places where the ships load.

[5] Many Americans make a practice of clearing a few acres of wood farm, and then setting or selling the land and improvements the first opportunity that offers. When this is accomplished they travel farther into the forest, and settle upon another farm, which they clear, build on, and dispose of in the same way they did the first.

[6] Mr. McGregor gives the following account of this dreadful conflagration: “It appears,” writes he, “that the woods had been, on both sides of the north-west branch, partially on fire for some time, but not to an alarming extent until the 7th of October, when it came on to blow furiously from the north-west, and the inhabitants on the banks of the river were suddenly alarmed by a tremendous roaring in the woods, resembling the incessant rolling of thunder; while at the same time the atmosphere became thickly darkened with smoke. They had scarcely time to ascertain the cause of this phenomenon, before all the surrounding woods appeared in one vast blaze, the flames ascending more than a hundred feet above the tops of the loftiest trees, and the fire, like a gulph in flames, rolling forward with inconceivable celerity. In less than an hour Douglastown and Newcastle were enveloped in the destroying element, and many of the wretched inhabitants perished in the midst of this terrible fire.” It was calculated that upwards of 500 persons fell victims to the conflagration throughout the province.

[7] Carleton, named from Sir Guy Carleton, one of the early governors of this province, is a thriving little place, situated on the opposite side of the harbour to St. John. The saw mills, within the _aboiteaux_, a little above the village, are deserving the notice of strangers. Opposite to the town is a low muddy islet called Navy Island. The Indians say that it was carried down at one time by the stream in a body. It is, however, evidently an alluvial deposit, and has been gradually formed.

[8] _Pic-nic_ excursions are much in vogue all over America. To show how far these differ from any thing to which they may be compared in England, it may be sufficient to observe, that pic-nic parties generally consist of families of respectability, with their friends, who are on a perfectly intimate footing with each other. In summer, some romantic spot is fixed upon, to which the party proceed; if by water, which is most commonly the case, in an open boat; or if by land, in gigs or in calashes, and on horseback. The ladies consider it as within their particular province to furnish eatables: the gentlemen provide wines and spirits. At these parties there is usually less restraint and more enjoyment than at the assemblies. On some grassy glade, shaded by the luxuriant branches of forest trees, and not far from some clear spring or rivulet, the contents of the well-filled baskets are disclosed; feasting on which forms certainly the most substantial part of the day’s enjoyment; but perhaps the most agreeable is that which succeeds, when the party divides for the pleasure of walking; and there are undoubtedly “worse occupations in the world” than wandering with a pretty woman through the skirts of a wood, or along the margin of the sea, enjoying “sweet converse” and the delights of the open air and surrounding scenery. As the evening approaches they re-assemble; and the party, followed by their servant, bringing along the fragments of the _pic-nic_, return to the boat, in which they embark.—_M^{c}Gregor’s Sketches_.

[9] This word in usually applied to land so situated, with respect to some adjacent stream or river, as to be occasionally overflowed by it, and thus to enjoy the advantage of alluvial deposits.

[10] The province of Nova Scotia is an extensive peninsula, connected with the continent of North America by a narrow isthmus of only eight miles in width, between Bay Verte in the Straits of Northumberland, and Cumberland Bason at the eastern extremity of the Bay of Fundy. It is supposed to have been discovered in 1497, by John Cabot, then in the service of Henry VII. of England. The first settlement was made there in 1604, by a number of French adventurers, who founded Port Royal, now Annapolis; by these the country was named Acadia. The occupation by France of this important province was opposed by England, and was the cause of the hostilities between these countries in America, which did not terminate until France was stripped of all her North American possessions by the peace of 1763.

[11] This stone was discovered in 1827: it is about two feet and a half long and two feet broad; on the upper part are engraved the square and compass of the free-mason, and in the centre, in large and deeply cut Arabic figures, the date 1606.

TRANSCRIBER NOTES

Spelling maintained as written except where obvious errors or omissions. Multiple spellings of words and names were adopted consistent with Volume I as follows: Montmorenci to Montmorency; St. Laurence (river) to St. Lawrence (river); St. John for river and town in New Brunswick; and St. John's for Newfoundland and Quebec early settlement on the Richelieu River.

Punctuation maintained except where obvious omissions or printer errors occurred.

List of Engravings created for this volume to complement Volume I.

Engravings have been enhanced and, where possible, relocated to coincide with the text.

[The end of "Canadian Scenery Vol. II of II", by N. P. Willis (Nathaniel Parker).]