Chapter 35

Busy Spring.--Increase of Society and Comfort.--Recollections of Home.-- Aurora Borealis

THIS has been a busy spring with us. First, sugar-making on a larger scale than our first attempt was, and since that we had workmen making considerable addition to our house; we have built a large and convenient kitchen, taking the former one for a bedroom; the root-house and dairy are nearly completed. We have a well of excellent water close beside the door, and a fine frame-barn was finished this week, which includes a good granary and stable, with a place for my poultry, in which I take great delight.

Besides a fine brood of fowls, the produce of two hens and a cock, or _rooster_, as the Yankees term that bird, I have some ducks, and am to have turkeys and geese this summer. I lost several of my best fowls, not by the hawk but a horrid beast of the same nature as our polecat, called here a scunck; it is far more destructive in its nature than either fox or the hawk, for he comes like a thief in the night and invades the perch, leaving headless mementos of his barbarity and blood-thirsty propensities.

We are having the garden, which hitherto has been nothing but a square enclosure for vegetables, laid out in a prettier form; two half circular wings sweep off from the entrance to each side of the house; the fence is a sort of rude basket or hurdle-work, such as you see at home, called by the country folk wattled fence: this forms a much more picturesque fence than those usually put up of split timber.

Along this little enclosure I have begun planting a sort of flowery hedge with some of the native shrubs that abound in our woods and lake- shores.

Among those already introduced are two species of shrubby honeysuckle, white and rose-blossomed: these are called by the American botanists _quilostium_.

Then I have the white _Spiroea frutex_, which grows profusely on the lake-shore; the Canadian wild rose; the red flowering raspberry (_rubus spectabilis_), leather-wood (_dircas_), called American mezereon, or moose-wood; this is a very pretty, and at the same time useful shrub, the bark being used by farmers as a substitute for cord in tying sacks, &c.; the Indians sew their birch-bark baskets with it occasionally.

Wild gooseberry, red and black currants, apple-trees, with here and there a standard hawthorn, the native tree bearing nice red fruit I named before, are all I have as yet been able to introduce.

The stoup is up, and I have just planted hops at the base of the pillars. I have got two bearing shoots of a purple wild grape from the island near us, which I long to see in fruit.

My husband is in good spirits; our darling boy is well, and runs about everywhere. We enjoy a pleasant and friendly society, which has increased so much within the last two years that we can hardly regret our absence from the more populous town.

My dear sister and her husband are comfortably settled in their new abode, and have a fine spot cleared and cropped. We often see them, and enjoy a chat of home--sweet, never-to-be-forgotten home; and cheat ourselves into the fond belief that, at no very distant time we may again retrace its fertile fields and flowery dales.

With what delight we should introduce our young Canadians to their grandmother and aunts; my little bushman shall early be taught to lisp the names of those unknown but dear friends, and to love the lands that gave birth to his parents, the bonny hills of the north and my own beloved England.

Not to regret my absence from my native land, and one so fair and lovely withal, would argue a heart of insensibility; yet I must say, for all its roughness, I love Canada, and am as happy in my humble log-house as if it were courtly hall or bower; habit reconciles us to many things that at first were distasteful. It has ever been my way to extract the sweet rather than the bitter in the cup of life, and surely it is best and wisest so to do. In a country where constant exertion is called for from all ages and degrees of settlers, it would be foolish to a degree to damp our energies by complaints, and cast a gloom over our homes by sitting dejectedly down to lament for all that was so dear to us in the old country. Since we are here, let us make the best of it, and bear with cheerfulness the lot we have chosen. I believe that one of the chief ingredients in human happiness is a capacity for enjoying the blessings we possess.

Though at our first outset we experienced many disappointments, many unlooked-for expenses, and many annoying delays, with some wants that to us seemed great privations, on the whole we have been fortunate, especially in the situation of our land, which has increased in value very considerably; our chief difficulties are now over, at least we hope so, and we trust soon to enjoy the comforts of a cleared farm.

My husband is becoming more reconciled to the country, and I daily feel my attachment to it strengthening. The very stumps that appeared so odious, through long custom, seem to lose some of their hideousness; the eye becomes familiarized even with objects the most displeasing till they cease to be observed. Some century hence how different will this spot appear! I can picture it to my imagination with fertile fields and groves of trees planted by the hand of taste;--all will be different; our present rude dwellings will have given place to others of a more elegant style of architecture, and comfort and grace will rule the scene which is now a forest wild.

You ask me if I like the climate of Upper Canada; to be candid I do not think it deserves all that travellers have said of it. The summer heat of last year was very oppressive; the drought was extreme, and in some respects proved rather injurious, especially to the potatoe crop. The frosts set in early, and so did the snows; as to the far-famed Indian summer it seems to have taken its farewell of the land, for little of it have we seen during three years' residence. Last year there was not a semblance of it, and this year one horrible dark gloomy day, that reminded me most forcibly of a London fog, and which was to the full as dismal and depressing, was declared by the old inhabitants to be the commencement of the Indian summer; the sun looked dim and red, and a yellow lurid mist darkened the atmosphere, so that it became almost necessary to light candles at noonday. If this be Indian summer, then might a succession of London fogs be termed the "London summer," thought I, as I groped about in a sort of bewildering dusky light all that day; and glad was I when, after a day or two's heavy rain, the frost and snow set in.

Very variable, as far as our experience goes, this climate has been; no two seasons have been at all alike, and it is supposed it will be still more variable as the work of clearing the forest goes on from year to year. Near the rivers and great lakes the climate is much milder and more equable; more inland, the snow seldom falls so as to allow of sleighing for weeks after it has become general; this, considering the state of our bush-roads, is rather a point in our favour, as travelling becomes less laborious, though still somewhat rough.

I have seen the aurora borealis several times; also a splendid meteoric phenomenon that surpassed every thing I had ever seen or even heard of before. I was very much amused by overhearing a young lad giving a gentleman a description of the appearance made by a cluster of the shooting-stars as they followed each other in quick succession athwart the sky. "Sir," said the boy, "I never saw such a sight before, and I can only liken the chain of stars to a logging-chain." Certainly a most natural and unique simile, quite in character with the occupation of the lad, whose business was often with the oxen and logging-chain, and after all not more rustic than the familiar names given to many of our most superb constellations,--Charles's wain, the plough, the sickle, &c.

Coming home one night last Christmas from the house of a friend, I was struck by a splendid pillar of pale greenish light in the west: it rose to some height above the dark line of pines that crowned the opposite shores of the Otanabee, and illumined the heavens on either side with a chaste pure light, such as the moon gives in her rise and setting; it was not quite pyramidical, though much broader at the base than at its highest point; it gradually faded, till a faint white glimmering light alone marked where its place had been, and even that disappeared after some half-hour's time. It was so fair and lovely a vision I was grieved when it vanished into thin air, and could have cheated fancy into the belief that it was the robe of some bright visitor from another and a better world;--imagination apart, could it be a phosphoric exhalation from some of our many swamps or inland lakes, or was it at all connected with the aurora that is so frequently seen in our skies?

I must now close this epistle; I have many letters to prepare for friends, to whom I can only write when I have the opportunity of free conveyance, the inland postage being very high; and you must not only pay for all you receive but all you send to and from New York.

Adieu, my kindest and best of friends.

Douro, May 1st, 1833.

APPENDIX

[The following Communications have been received from the Writer of this Work during its progress through the Press.]

MAPLE-SUGAR.

THIS spring I have made maple-sugar of a much finer colour and grain than any I have yet seen; and have been assured by many old settlers it was the best, or nearly the best, they had ever met with: which commendation induces me to give the plan I pursued in manufacturing it. The sap having been boiled down in the sugar-bush from about sixteen pailsful to two, I first passed it through a thin flannel bag, after the manner of a jelly-bag, to strain it from the first impurities, which are great. I then passed the liquor through another thicker flannel into the iron pot, in which I purposed boiling down the sugar, and while yet cold, or at best but lukewarm, beat up the white of one egg to a froth, and spread it gently over the surface of the liquor, watching the pot carefully after the fire began to heat it, that I might not suffer the scum to boil into the sugar. A few minutes before it comes to a boil, the scum must be carefully removed with a skimmer, or ladle,--the former is best. I consider that on the care taken to remove every particle of scum depends, in a great measure, the brightness and clearness of the sugar. The best rule I can give as to the sugaring-off, as it is termed, is to let the liquid continue at a fast boil: only be careful to keep it from coming over by keeping a little of the liquid in your stirring- ladle, and when it boils up to the top, or you see it rising too fast, throw in a little from time to time to keep it down; or if you boil on a cooking-stove, throwing open one or all the doors will prevent boiling over. Those that sugar-off outside the house have a wooden crane fixed against a stump, the fire being lighted against the stump, and the kettle suspended on the crane: by this simple contrivance, (for any bush-boy can fix a crane of the kind,) the sugar need never rise over if common attention be paid to the boiling; but it does require constant watching: one idle glance may waste much of the precious fluid. I had only a small cooking-stove to boil my sugar on, the pots of which were thought too small, and not well shaped, so that at first my fears were that I must relinquish the trial; but I persevered, and experience convinces me a stove is an excellent furnace for the purpose; as you can regulate the heat as you like.

One of the most anxious periods in the boiling I found to be when the liquor began first to assume a yellowish frothy appearance, and cast up so great a volume of steam from its surface as to obscure the contents of the pot; as it may then rise over almost unperceived by the most vigilant eye. As the liquor thickens into molasses, it becomes a fine yellow, and seems nothing but thick froth. When it is getting pretty well boiled down, the drops begin to fall clear and ropy from the ladle; and if you see little bright grainy-looking bubbles in it, drop some on a cold plate, and continue to stir or rub it till it is quite cold: if it is ready to granulate, you will find it gritty, and turn whitish or pale straw colour; and stiff. The sugar may then safely be poured off into a tin dish, pail, basin, or any other utensil. I tried two different methods after taking the sugar from the fire, but could find little difference in the look of the sugar, except that in one the quantity was broken up more completely; in the other the sugar remained in large lumps, but equally pure and sparkling. In the first I kept stirring the sugar till it began to cool and form a whitish thick substance, and the grains were well crystallised; in the other process, --which I think preferable, as being the least troublesome,--I waited till the mass was hardened into sugar, and then, piercing the crust in many places, I turned the mass into a cullender, and placed the cullender over a vessel to receive the molasses that drained from the sugar. In the course of the day or two, I frequently stirred the sugar, which thus became perfectly free from moisture, and had acquired a fine sparkling grain, tasting exactly like sugar-candy, free from any taste of the maple-sap, and fit for any purpose.

I observed that in general maple-sugar, as it is commonly made, is hard and compact, showing little grain, and weighing very heavy in proportion to its bulk. Exactly the reverse is the case with that I made, it being extremely light for its bulk, all the heavy molasses having been separated, instead of dried into the sugar. Had the present season been at all a favourable one, which it was not, we should have made a good quantity of excellent sugar.

VINEGAR.

By boiling down five gallons of sap to one, and when just a little above the heat of new milk, putting in a cupful of barm (hop-rising will do if it be good), and letting the vessel remain in your kitchen chimney- corner during the summer, and perhaps longer, you will obtain a fine, cheap, pleasant, and strong vinegar, fit for any purpose. This plan I have pursued successfully two years. Care must be taken that the cask or keg be well seasoned and tight before the vinegar is put in; as the dryness of the summer heat is apt to shrink the vessel, and make it leak. If putty well wrought, tar, or even yellow soap, be rubbed over the seams, and round the inner rim of the head of the cask, it will preserve it from opening. The equal temperature of the kitchen is preferred by experienced housewives to letting the vinegar stand abroad; they aver the coldness of the nights in this country is prejudicial to the process, being as speedily perfected as if it underwent no such check. By those well skilled in the manufacture of home-made wines and beer, excellent maple-wine and beer might be produced at a very trifling expense; i.e. that of the labour and skill exercised in the making it.

Every settler grows, as an ornament in his garden, or should grow, hops, which form one of the principal components of maple-beer when added to the sap.

HOP-RISING.

This excellent, and, I might add, indispensable, article in every settler's house, is a valuable substitute for ale or beer-yeast, and is made in the following simple manner:--Take two double handfuls of hops, boil in a gallon of soft water, if you can get it, till the hops sink to the bottom of the vessel; make ready a batter formed by stirring a dessert-platefull of flour and cold water till smooth and pretty thick together; strain the hop-liquor while scalding hot into the vessel where your batter is mixed ready; let one person pour the hop-liquor while the other keeps stirring the batter. When cooled down to a gentle warmth, so that you can bear the finger well in it, add a cup or basinful of the former barm, or a bit of leaven, to set it to work; let the barm stand till it has worked well, then bottle and cork it. Set it by in a cellar or cool place if in summer, and in winter it is also the best place to keep it from freezing. Some persons add two or three mealy potatoes boiled and finely bruised, and it is a great improvement during the cool months of the year. Potatoes in bread may be introduced very advantageously; and to first settlers, who have all their flour to buy, I think it must be a saving.

The following method I found made more palatable and lighter bread than flour, mixed in the usual way:--Supposing I wanted to make up about a stone and half of flour, I boiled (having first pared them carefully)-- say three dozen good-sized potatoes in about three quarts or a gallon of water, till the liquor had the appearance of a thin gruel, and the potatoes had become almost entirely incorporated with the water. With this potatoe-gruel the flour was mixed up, no water being required, unless by chance I had not enough of the mixture to moisten my flour sufficiently. The same process of kneading, fermenting with barm, &c., is pursued with the dough, as with other bread. In baking, it turns of a bright light brown, and is lighter than bread made after the common process, and therefore I consider the knowledge of it serviceable to the emigrant's family.

SALT-RISING.

This is a barm much used by the Yanky settlers; but though the bread is decidedly whiter, and prettier to look at, than that raised in any other way, the peculiar flavour it imparts to the bread renders it highly disagreeable to some persons. Another disadvantage is, the difficulty of fermenting this barm in the winter season, as it requires a temperature which is very difficult to preserve in a Canadian winter day. Moreover, after the barm has once reached its height, unless immediately made use of, it sinks, and rises again no more: careful people, of course, who know this peculiarity, are on the watch, being aware of the ill consequences of heavy bread, or having no bread but bannocks in the house.

As near as I can recollect, the salt-rising is made as follows:--For a small baking of two or three loaves, or one large bake-kettle-loaf, (about the size of a London peck loaf,) take about a pint of moderately warm water, (a pleasant heat to the hand,) and stir into the jug or pot containing it as much flour as will make a good batter, not too thick; add to this half a tea-spoon of salt, not more, and set the vessel in a pan of moderately warm water, within a little distance of the fire, or in the sun: the water that surrounds the pot in which your rising is, must never be allowed to cool much below the original heat, more warm water being added (in the pan, not to the barm) till the whole is in an active state of fermentation, which will be from six to eight hours, when the dough must be mixed with it, and as much warm water or milk as you require. Knead the mass till it is tough, and does not stick to the board. Make up your loaf or loaves, and keep them warmly covered near the fire till they rise: they must be baked directly this second rising takes place. Those that bake what I term a _shanty loaf_, in an iron bake-pot, or kettle, placed on the hot embers, set the dough to rise over a very few embers, or near the hot hearth, keeping the pot or pan turned as the loaf rises; when equally risen all over they put hot ashes beneath and upon the lid, taking care not to let the heat be too fierce at first. As this is the most common method of baking, and the first that a settler sees practised, it is as well they should be made familiar with it beforehand. At first I was inclined to grumble and rebel against the expediency of bake-pans or bake-kettles; but as cooking-stoves, iron ovens, and even brick and clay-built ovens, will not start up at your bidding in the bush, these substitutes are valuable, and perform a number of uses. I have eaten excellent light bread, baked on the emigrant's hearth in one of these kettles. I have eaten boiled potatoes, baked meats, excellent stews, and good soups, all cooked at different times in this universally useful utensil: so let it not be despised. It is one of those things peculiarly adapted to the circumstances of settlers in the bush before they have collected those comforts about their homesteads, within and without, that are the reward and the slow gleaning-up of many years of toil.

There are several other sorts of rising similar to the salt-rising. "Milk-rising" which is mixed with milk, warm from the cow, and about a third warm water; and "bran-rising," which is made with bran instead of flour, and is preferred by many persons to either of the former kinds.

SOFT SOAP.

Of the making of soft soap I can give little or no correct information, never having been given any _certain_ rule myself, and my own experience is too limited. I was, however, given a hint from a professional gentleman, which I mean to act upon forthwith. Instead of boiling the soap, which is some trouble, he assured me the best plan was to run off the ley from a barrel of ashes: into this ley I might put four or five pounds of any sort of grease, such as pot skimmings, rinds of bacon, or scraps from frying down suet; in short any refuse of the kind would do. The barrel with its contents may then be placed in a secure situation in the garden or yard, exposed to the sun and air. In course of time the ley and grease become incorporated: if the grease predominates it will be seen floating on the surface; in such case add more ley; if the mixture does not thicken, add more grease. Now, this is the simplest, easiest, and clearest account I have yet received on the subject of soap-making, which hitherto has seemed a mystery, even though a good quantity was made last spring by one of my servants, and it turned out well: but she could not tell why it succeeded, for want of being able to explain the principle she worked from.

CANDLES.

Every one makes their own candles (i.e. if they have any materials to make them from). The great difficulty of making candies--and, as far as I see the only one, is procuring the tallow, which a bush-settler, until he begins to kill his own beef, sheep, and hogs, is rarely able to do, unless he buys; and a settler buys nothing that he can help. A cow, however, that is unprofitable, old, or unlikely to survive the severity of the coming winter, is often suffered to go dry during the summer, and get her own living, till she is fit to kill in the fall. Such an animal is often slaughtered very advantageously, especially if the settler have little fodder for his cattle. The beef is often excellent, and good store of candles and soap may be made from the inside fat. These candles, if made three parts beef- and one part hogs-lard, will burn better than any store-candles, and cost less than half price. The tallow is merely melted in a pot or pan convenient for the purpose, and having run the cotton wicks into the moulds (tin or pewter moulds for six candles cost three shillings at the stores, and last many, many years), a stick or skewer is passed through the loops of your wicks, at the upper part of the stand, which serve the purpose of drawing the candles. The melted fat, not too hot, but in a fluid state, is then poured into the moulds till they are full; as the fat gets cold it shrinks, and leaves a hollow at the top of the mould: this requires filling up when quite cold. If the candles do not draw readily, plunge the mould for an instant into hot water and the candles will come out easily. Many persons prefer making dip-candles for kitchen use; but for my own part I think the trouble quite as great, and give the preference, in point of neatness of look, to the moulds. It may be, my maid and I did not succeed so well in making the dips as the moulds.

PICKLING.

The great want of spring vegetables renders pickles a valuable addition to the table at the season when potatoes have become unfit and distasteful. If you have been fortunate in your maple-vinegar, a store of pickled cucumbers, beans, cabbage, &c. may be made during the latter part of the summer; but if the vinegar should not be fit at that time, there are two expedients: one is to make a good brine of boiled salt and water, into which throw your cucumbers, &c. (the cabbage, by the by, may be preserved in the root-house or cellar quite good, or buried in pits, well covered, till you want to make your pickle). Those vegetables, kept in brine, must be covered close, and when you wish to pickle them, remove the top layer, which are not so good; and having boiled the vinegar with spices let it stand till it is cold. The cucumbers should previously have been well washed, and soaked in two or three fresh waters, and drained; then put in a jar, and the cold vinegar poured over them. The advantage of this is obvious; you can pickle at any season. Another plan, and I have heard it much commended, is putting the cucumbers into a mixture of whiskey* and water, which in time turns to a fine vinegar, and preserves the colour and crispness of the vegetable; while the vinegar is apt to make them soft, especially if poured on boiling hot, as is the usual practice.

[* In the "Backwoodsman," this whiskey-receipt is mentioned as an abominable compound: perhaps the witty author had tasted the pickles in an improper state of progression. He gives a lamentable picture of American cookery, but declares the badness arises from want of proper receipts. These yeast-receipts will be extremely useful in England; as the want of fresh yeast is often severely felt in country districts.]

APPENDIX B.

[In the wish to render this Work of more practical value to persons desiring to emigrate, some official information is subjoined, under the following heads:--]

STATISTICS OF EMIGRATION.

I. The number of Sales and Grants of Crown Lands, Clergy Reserves, Conditions, &c. II. Information for Emigrants; Number of Emigrants arrived; with extracts from Papers issued by Government Emigration Agents, &c. III. Abstract of the American Passengers' Act, of Session 1835. IV. Transfer of Capital. V. Canadian Currency. VI. Canada Company. VII. British American Land Company.

===================================

I. SALES AND GRANTS OF CROWN LANDS.

The following tables, abstracted from Parliamentary documents, exhibit--

1. The quantity of Crown lands _sold_ in Upper and Lower Canada from 1828 to 1833, inclusive, with the average price per acre, &c.

2. Town and park lots sold in Upper Canada during the same period.

3. The quantity of Crown lands granted without purchase, and the conditions on which the grants were given, from 1824 to 1833, inclusive.

4. The amount of clergy reserves sold in each year since the sales commenced under the Act 7 and 8 Geo. IV., c. 62.

CROWN LANDS SOLD FROM 1828 TO 1833, LOWER CANADA

[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the conventional tabular row / column format.]

Table Row 1, Column Headings Column 1: Year. Column 2: Number of acres sold. Column 3: Average price per acre. Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. Column 5: Amount of purchase money remitted to military purchasers within the first year. Column 6: Amount of quit-rent at 5 per cent on the purchase money received within the first year. Column 7: Whole amount of purchase money.

Row 2 Column 1: 1828 Column 2: 20,011 acres Column 3: 4 shillings, 11 pence Column 4: 1,255 pounds, 14 shillings, 10 pence Column 5: -, -, - Column 6: 39 pounds, 12 shillings, 6 pence Column 7: 5,044 pounds, 9 shillings, 9 pence

Row 3 Column 1: 1829 Column 2: 31,366 acres Column 3: 5 shillings, 2-3/4 pence Column 4: 466 pounds, 2 shillings, 11 pence Column 5: -, -, - Column 6: 307 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence Column 7: 7,469 pounds, 17 shillings, 7 pence

Row 4 Column 1: 1830 Column 2: 28,077 acres Column 3: 5 shillings, 8-3/4 pence Column 4: 273 pounds, 10 shillings, 5 pence Column 5: -, -, - Column 6: 322 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence Column 7: 7,461 pounds, 13 shillings, 5 pence

Row 5 Column 1: 1831 Column 2: 51,357 acres Column 3: 6 shillings, 1-3/4 pence Column 4: 815 pounds, 19 shillings, 8 pence Column 5: -, -, - Column 6: 484 pounds, 14 shillings, 7 pence Column 7: 12,442 pounds, 8 shillings, 0 pence

Row 6 Column 1: 1832 Column 2: 24,074 acres Column 3: 6 shillings, 9-1/4 pence Column 4: 1,013 pounds, 1 shillings, 11 pence Column 5: 555 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence Column 6: 119 pounds, 2 shillings, 7 pence Column 7: 6,139 pounds, 0 shillings, 10 pence

Row 7 Column 1: 1833 Column 2: 42,570 acres Column 3: 4 shillings, 2 pence Column 4: 1,975 pounds, 10 shillings, 11 pence Column 5: 1,936 pounds, 9 shillings, 3 pence Column 6: -, -, - Column 7: 7,549 pounds, 1 shillings, 5 pence

Row 8 Column 1: Totals Column 2: 197,455 Column 3: -, - Column 4: -, -, - Column 5: -, -, - Column 6: -, -, - Column 7: 46,106 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence

The conditions on which the land was sold were--on sales on instalments, to be paid within three years; or on sales on quit-rent, at 5 per cent., capital redeemable at pleasure. N.B. Sales on quit-rent ceased in 1832.

CROWN LANDS SOLD FROM 1828 TO 1833, UPPER CANADA

[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the conventional tabular row / column format.]

Table Row 1, Column Headings Column 1: Year. Column 2: Number of acres sold. Column 3: Average price per acre. Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. Column 5: Whole amount of purchase money.

Row 2 Column 1: 1829 Column 2: 3,893 acres Column 3: 15 shillings, 1-3/4 pence Column 4: 760 pounds, 6 shillings, 10 pence Column 5: 2,940 pounds, 17 shillings, 3 pence

Row 3 Column 1: 1830 Column 2: 6,135 acres Column 3: 13 shillings, 8-1/2 pence Column 4: 1,350 pounds, 16 shillings, 6 pence Column 5: 4,209 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence

Row 4 Column 1: 1831 Column 2: 4,357 acres Column 3: 11 shillings, 3-1/2 pence Column 4: 1,626 pounds, 15 shillings, 0 pence Column 5: 2,458 pounds, 1 shillings, 8 pence

Row 5 Column 1: 1832 Column 2: 10,323 acres Column 3: 9 shillings, 1-1/2 pence Column 4: 2,503 pounds, 3 shillings, 5 pence Column 5: 4,711 pounds, 2 shillings, 9 pence

Row 6 Column 1: 1833 Column 2: 26,376 acres Column 3: 8 shillings, 9-1/4 pence Column 4: 5,660 pounds, 8 shillings, 3 pence Column 5: 11,578 pounds, 19 shillings, 3 pence

Row 7 Column 1: Totals Column 2: 51,074 acres Column 3: - Column 4: - Column 5: 25,898 pounds, 3 shillings, 11 pence

Interest is now exacted on the instalments paid. Three years is the number within which the whole amount of the purchase money is to be paid. The sales of town lots, water lots, and park lots, in Upper Canada, are not included in this table, on account of the disproportionate effect which the comparatively large sums paid for these small lots would have on the average price per acre. They are given, therefore, separately, in the following table:-

TOWN AND PARK LOTS SOLD IN UPPER CANADA FROM 1828 TO 1833

[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the conventional tabular row / column format.]

[TABLE] Row 1, Column Headings Column 1: Year. Column 2: Number of acres sold. Column 3: Average price per acre. Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. Column 5: Whole amount of purchase money.

Row 2 Column 1: 1828 Column 2: 2 acres Column 3: 126 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence Column 4: 63 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence Column 5: 252 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence

Row 3 Column 1: 1829 Column 2: - Column 3: -, - Column 4: 63 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence Column 5: -, -, -

Row 4 Column 1: 1830 Column 2: 19 acres Column 3: 10 pounds, 10 shillings, 6-1/2 pence Column 4: 55 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence Column 5: 20 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence

Row 5 Column 1: 1831 Column 2: 3 acres Column 3: 8 pounds, 7 shillings, 6-1/2 pence Column 4: 95 pounds*, 12 shillings, 8 pence Column 5: 25 pounds, 2 shillings, 8 pence

Row 6 Column 1: 1832 Column 2: 30 acres Column 3: 15 pounds, 18 shillings, 6 pence Column 4: 81 pounds, 18 shillings, 9 pence Column 5: 327 pounds, 15 shillings, 0 pence

Row 7 Column 1: 1833 Column 2: 114 acres Column 3: 14 pounds, 13 shillings, 9 pence Column 4: 634 pounds, 8 shillings, 6 pence Column 5: 1,674 pounds, 9 shillings, 0 pence

Row 7 Column 1: Totals Column 2: 168 acres Column 3: -,-,- Column 4: -,-,- Column 5: 2,479 pounds, 6 shillings, 8 pence

There were no sales in 1829. The 63 pounds currency paid that year was paid as instalments on lots sold in the previous year.

The whole amount of the purchase money to be paid within three years.

*Note.--It is so given in the Parliamentary Return, but probably the 9 should be 1.

The following exhibits the quantity of Crown Lands granted, and the conditions on which the grants were given, from 1823 to 1833.

[TABLE]

LOWER CANADA

[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the conventional tabular row / column format.]

Row 1, Column Headings Column 1: Year. Column 2: Number of acres granted to militia claimants. Column 3: Number of acres granted to discharged soldiers and pensioners. Column 4: Number of acres granted to officers. Column 5: Number of acres granted, not coming within the previous descriptions. Column 6: Total number of acres granted.

Row 2 Column 1: 1824 Column 2: 51,810 Column 3: - Column 4: 4,100 Column 5: 34,859 Column 6: 90,769

Row 3 Column 1: 1825 Column 2: 32,620 Column 3: - Column 4: 1,000 Column 5: 16,274 Column 6: 49,894

Row 4 Column 1: 1826 Column 2: 3,525 Column 3: 5,500 Column 4: - Column 5: 48,224 Column 6: 57,249

Row 5 Column 1: 1827 Column 2: 7,640 Column 3: 6,300 Column 4: 800 Column 5: 38,378 Column 6: 53,118

Row 6 Column 1: 1828 Column 2: 7,300 Column 3: - Column 4: 4,504 Column 5: 9,036 Column 6: 20,840

Row 7 Column 1: 1829 Column 2: 3,200 Column 3: - Column 4: - Column 5: 5,282 Column 6: 8,482

Row 8 Column 1: 1830 Column 2: 81,425 Column 3: - Column 4: 2,000 Column 5: 10,670 Column 6: 94,095

Row 9 Column 1: 1831 Column 2: 9,400 Column 3: 8,273 Column 4: 3,408 Column 5: 9,900 Column 6: 30,981

Row 10 Column 1: 1832 Column 2: 10,116 Column 3: 19,000 Column 4: 4,000 Column 5: 4,000 Column 6: 37,116

Row 11 Column 1: 1833 Column 2: 5,200 Column 3: 22,500 Column 4: 1,200 Column 5: - Column 6: 28,900

Row 12 Column 1: Totals Column 2: 212,236 Column 3: 61,573 Column 4: 21,012 Column 5: 176,623 Column 6: 471,444

_Settler's Conditions_.--That he do clear twenty feet of road on his lot within the space of ninety days. Military & Militia conditions.--That he do, within the space of three years, clear and cultivate four acres of his lot, and build a dwelling- house thereon.

[TABLE]

UPPER CANADA

[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the conventional tabular row / column format.]

Row 1, Column Headings Column 1: Year. Column 2: Number of acres granted to militia claimants. Column 3: Number of acres granted to discharged soldiers and pensioners. Column 4: Number of acres granted to officers. Column 5: Number of acres granted, not coming within the previous descriptions. Column 6: Number of acres granted to U.E. Loyalists.* Column 7: Total number of acres granted.

Row 2 Column 1: 1824 Column 2: 11,800 Column 3: 5,800 Column 4: 5,500 Column 5: 134,500 Column 6: 30,200 Column 7: 187,800

Row 3 Column 1: 1825 Column 2: 20,300 Column 3: 5,700 Column 4: 8,100 Column 5: 149,060 Column 6: 45,000 Column 7: 228,160

Row 4 Column 1: 1826 Column 2: 16,600 Column 3: 3,100 Column 4: 4,700 Column 5: 19,390 Column 6: 24,800 Column 7: 68,590

Row 5 Column 1: 1827 Column 2: 10,900 Column 3: 4,200 Column 4: 7,200 Column 5: 33,600 Column 6: 20,200 Column 7: 76,100

Row 6 Column 1: 1828 Column 2: 10,800 Column 3: 900 Column 4: 3,000 Column 5: 4,304 Column 6: 30,800 Column 7: 49,804

Row 7 Column 1: 1829 Column 2: 5,300 Column 3: 7,500 Column 4: 8,400 Column 5: 3,230 Column 6: 22,600 Column 7: 47,030

Row 8 Column 1: 1830 Column 2: 6,400 Column 3: 12,500 Column 4: 12,600 Column 5: 9,336 Column 6: 27,400 Column 7: 68,236

Row 9 Column 1: 1831 Column 2: 5,500 Column 3: 58,400 Column 4: 7,200 Column 5: 8,000 Column 6: 34,200 Column 7: 113,300

Row 10 Column 1: 1832 Column 2: 19,300 Column 3: 97,800 Column 4: 7,600 Column 5: 6,100 Column 6: 62,600 Column 7: 193,400

Row 11 Column 1: 1833 Column 2: 35,200 Column 3: 46,000 Column 4: - Column 5: 9,100 Column 6: 135,600 Column 7: 225,900

Row 12 Column 1: Totals Column 2: 142,100 Column 3: 241,900 Column 4: 64,300 Column 5: 376,620 Column 6: 433,400 Column 7: 1,258,320

_Condition_. - Actual settlement.

* U.E. Loyalists means United English Loyalists--individuals who fled from the United States on the breaking out of the American war of independence. The grants in the above column are mostly to the children of these individuals.

The conditions in force in 1824, the time from which the Returns take their commencement, were enacted by Orders in Council of 20th October, 1818, and 21st February, 1820, applied equally to all classes of grantees, and were as follows:--

"That locatees shall clear thoroughly and fence five acres for every 100 acres granted; and build a house 16 feet by 20 in the clear; and to clear one-half of the road, and chop down, without charring, one chain in depth across the lot next to road. These road duties to be considered as part of the five acres per 100. The whole to be completed within two years from date of the location, and upon proof of their fulfilment patents to issue.

"On the 14th of May, 1830, an additional stipulation was made in locations to discharged soldiers, which required an actual residence on their lots, in person, for five years before the issue of their patents.

"On the 14th of November, 1830, the then existing Orders in Council, respecting settlement duties, were cancelled, and it was ordered that in lieu thereof each locatee should clear half the road in front of his lot, and from 10 feet in the centre of the road cut the stumps so low that waggon wheels might pass over them. Upon proof of this, and that a settler had been resident on the lot two years, a patent might issue. Locatees, however, were at liberty, instead of placing settlers on their lands, to clear, in addition to half the road on each lot, a chain in depth across the front, and to sow it and the road with grass seed.

"Upon discharged soldiers and seamen alone, under this order, it became imperative to reside on and improve their lands three years before the issue of the patent.

"On the 24th of May, 1832, an Order in Council was made, abolishing, in all cases except that of discharged soldiers and seamen, the regulations previously existing; and which directed that, upon proof of an actual settler being established on a lot, a patent should issue without the condition of settlement duty."

The following extract is taken from "official information" circulated by Mr. Buchanan, and other Government emigration agents in Canada:--

"Emigrants, wishing to obtain fertile lands in the Canadas in a wild state by purchase from the Crown, may rely on every facility being afforded them by the public authorities. Extensive tracts are surveyed and offered for sale in Upper Canada monthly, and frequently every 10 or 14 days, by the Commissioner of Crown lands, at upset prices, varying according to situation from 10 shillings to 15 shillings per acre, excepting in the townships of Sunnidale and Nottawasaga, where the upset price of Crown lands is 5 shillings only. In Lower Canada, the Commissioner of Crown lands at Quebec puts up land for sale, at fixed periods, in various townships, at from 2 shillings 6 pence to 12 shillings 6 pence Halifax currency, per acre, payable by instalments. Wild lands may also be purchased from the Upper Canada Company on very easy terms, and those persons wanting improved farms will find little difficulty in obtaining such from private proprietors. On no account enter into any final engagement for your lands or farms _without personal examination_, and be certain of the following qualifications:-- "1. A healthy situation. "2. Good land. "3. A pure spring, or running stream of water. "4. In the neighbourhood of a good, moral, and religious state of society, and schools for the education of your children. "5. As near good roads and water transport as possible, saw and grist mills. "6. A good title."

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Clergy Reserves sold in each year since the sales commenced under the