Chapter 5

_Wednesday_.--I went to Sections for last time; in afternoon to the closing meeting of British Association, when they all butter one another; the buttering of John was, of course, very nice and justifiable Sir William Dawson said among other things that John was to be loved and admired as a man as well as a scientist. He certainly looks gentlemanlike and sweet, and though nervous, he always expresses himself well; he and others received the honour of D.C.L. from the McGill University here. I forgot to say that on Tuesday evening there was a grand reception by the civic authorities at the skating rink, a very large hall, where we paraded up and down, and the young ones danced (Hedley with Miss Angus), and then I sat in a state gallery with E--- and other grandees. I cannot say I was struck with the beauty of the company. I made acquaintance with Captain Greely--he does not look any better, poor man, but has a nice expression. Wednesday evening we went to a pretty party at Mr. Donald Smith's, the richest man in Canada, and so kind and simple; he had a ball-room built at a day or two's notice, and tent for supper, and Chinese lanterns lighted up the garden, &c. It was a lovely night with full moon, and I was very glad to walk outside, for the heat was very great. Mr. D. Smith asked me to "Silver Heights," his place at Winnipeg. H--- and Dick are both rather unwell to-day, and I hear poor Mr. Walter Brown is dying. I am well enough now. It is extremely hot, but there is always air. John has shirked the Toronto function, and also the American Association at Philadelphia--some of the B. A. are starting there soon. We go alone to Toronto, and also to Winnipeg and the Rocky Mountains. Miss Becker and Mrs. Hallett called to see me, and I signed a memorial of thanks to Sir John Macdonald (the Premier of Canada), for proposing Women's Suffrage here.

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

The fact that the British Association meets this year in Canada gives unusual interest to the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Philadelphia, from September 4 to 11. After the Montreal meeting those who feel inclined can make their way leisurely to Philadelphia where it is evident from the information before us, they will meet with a warm reception. On the Friday evening, September 5, after the address of the retiring president (Professor C. A. Young, of New Jersey) a general reception will be tendered by the citizens and ladies of Philadelphia to the members of the British and American Associations, and the ladies accompanying them. The British Association has been cordially invited, both by the American Association to take part in the proceedings, and by the local committee representing the citizens of Philadelphia, to accept the warm welcome which will be tendered them during the joint session. The local committee has, indeed, been divided into a number of subcommittees for the sole purpose of rendering the stay of their visitors agreeable It will, therefore, only be courteous on the part of Britons who intend to be present at the American meeting to comply with the committee's request, and send their names, together with the number of ladies and gentlemen in their parties, as early as possible, to Dr. Persifor Frazer, 201, South Fifth street, Philadelphia. During the week occupied by the session there will be a number of receptions, entertainments, and excursions, and a day will be set apart for the examination of the International Electrical Exhibition, to be held at Philadelphia under the auspices of the Franklin Institute, and commencing September 2. By an arrangement between the Canadian and United States Trunk lines, members of the British Association will be conveyed between Montreal and Philadelphia at specially low fares, while the hotel charges at the latter city during the meeting are not expected to exceed three dollars a day. We believe the number who have already promised to be at the Montreal meeting is about seven-hundred and fifty, so that with those who will go without promising, added to the many Canadian and United States scientists who are sure to be present, the meeting is likely to be in numbers more than an average one.

Letter No. 4.

_September 17th, Toronto, The "Chestnuts."_

My beloved Mother.--I forgot to mention your birthday when I last wrote, but you know how glad I am that you were born! And how much I prize every year that is added to your life; and now as this will find you at dear Mary's, please give her my fond love and best wishes for this day, and I shall drink her health to-day, and call upon my sons to do the same. I posted my last letter at Montreal on Thursday; Dick was quite ill that day, and after seeing him twice and shopping, I bid good-bye to Mr. Angus, who went to New York, and then Miss Angus drove me to see poor Mrs. Walter Brown, whose husband was dying at the Hospital. I sent my card in and she asked to see me. I did not know her much, but it was very touching, and I felt my heart quite drawn to the poor young woman, who came out with her husband on a pleasure trip, and now has to leave him buried in a far land. He got typhoid fever, and inflammation of the lungs, and was lying unconscious on a hospital bed, while she sobbed on my shoulder, and said "Oh what shall I do? what shall I do?" I asked her if she had any difficulty about money matters, but she said Captain Douglas Galton had called and kindly arranged everything for her with one of our kind hosts at Montreal. Her father was coming out to her as fast as he could, but could not be at New York till the 12th, and her poor husband died that night, and was buried yesterday. After this, which upset me much, I went to the Stephens' and met John and E--- and told them, and John went off also to see Mrs. Brown, for Mr. Brown had been a friend of his. The Stephens' house is very gorgeous, and full of beautiful satin-wood walls, and the staircase finely carved mahogany. Mr. Angus' house, too, has much beautiful carved wood about it, but the houses are kept so dark on account of the heat and flies, that one can hardly see well enough to appreciate these beauties. Excepting in this respect, and the amount of carved wood, the style is very like the houses of the middle class of well-to-do men in Scotland.

_Friday_.--I got up at six, and walked to see Dick, and found him better, and he arranged, if well enough, to follow us to Toronto; then we breakfasted and all the family were up to see us off, and we joined John and E--- at the station and arranged ourselves in the Directors' car (Canadian Pacific Railway), a drawing-room with beds (sofas), dining-room and table in centre, a little kitchen, private bedroom, and two lavatories. We had a very hot and dusty journey but were otherwise comfortable, and arrived at Ottawa about twelve. John and E--- went off to lunch with Lady Melgund at Rido, but as she did not know we were coming I was not invited, and so Hedley and I lunched in our car, and then drove to lionize the Claudiere Falls, where the Ottawa River falls about two hundred feet. The quantity of wood piled about is amazing (lumber they call it) and it chokes up and destroys the effect of the river, but it is not in itself ugly, for they arrange it so beautifully and the colouring is bright. Then we drove to the Government buildings, and there I was agreeably surprised by the beautiful view, not so grand as Quebec certainly, but very fine--the Ottawa, with headlands, well wooded, frequently breaking the line of the river, and the far reach of country with blue mountains in the background, and then the air so deliciously sweet and pure, and reviving. We returned there again in the afternoon, and sat reading till half-past seven, when we returned to our small house and John and E---, and the conductor gave us a capital dinner--champagne and all sorts of good things, and we all enjoyed it. Then we chatted and played whist, and then to bed. Hedley and I in the drawing-room, and John and E--- in small room, the maids in dining-room. I can't say I slept well for they moved our car once, causing our conductor to storm at them for their impertinence, and the arrival and departure of various trains and fog signals, &c., were not calculated to favour one's slumbers! Hedley declares that a fog signal in the morning did not awake me, but he slept through all. About twelve, Dick arrived from Montreal, much better, and our car was fastened to the train and on we went to Toronto. We all tried to read, but oh! the shaking, and dust, and heat were overpowering; still it was interesting to see what appeared a primitive country with forests half burned, with stations at "cities" consisting of apparently two or three wooden houses in the wood--I say apparently, for Sir D. Macpherson told me there were splendid farms near the railway. Sometimes we saw a pretty lake with park-like scenery around, and we thought "here we could make a pretty country place." At ten o'clock Saturday night we arrived at Toronto, and Sir David Macpherson and his carriage were waiting for us, and it was so delightful to drive in an open carriage with a lovely moon shining and the sweet, cool air refreshing us, that we were very sorry the drive was so short. Lady M--- and her daughter, Miss M---, only in their house, which seems like an English one in the style of arrangements--servants and conservatories, and greenhouses, &c., and my bedroom is furnished like a Scotch one, full of pretty quilts and muslin covers, and odds and ends. I was delighted to find myself between two very fine sheets, and slept like a top. Evelyn had a headache and did not get up or go to church. We drove to the nearest and had a nice service and fair sermon from a Mr. de Barr, son of a Canadian Judge; Dick, Miss, M---, and I stayed to Holy Communion, and I was struck with the remarkable number of young people who remained. After luncheon I had a long talk with Sir David. He says we are quite wrong about free trade: as the world is, it should be fair trade, or England will continue to lose, as she is now losing, every year. The Canadians are obliged to have Protection on account of the United States, who would send their manufactured goods by English vessels and so ruin Canadian workshops. No country can grow and prosper which only produces the raw article of food, &c. Land alone cannot make a people rich or great; he thinks the Conservative party are not half, active or energetic enough, and we must have workmen orators stumping all over the country to reach their own class, or we shall lose all influence with those who will really be the ruling power. Here, he says, the Conservatives are two to one in the House of Commons; the Radicals here abuse their country, and try to hinder and injure all the enterprise which would enlarge its borders and bring emigrants to take possession, and do all they can to lower it in the estimation of outsiders, in hopes that if things come to smash they might have a chance of a reign of power. Doesn't this remind one of some people in our own country? Radicals are called "grits" here, and they say you can recognize a "grit" when you see him, for though they are not at all from one class or one industry, they have heads that might betoken a sojourn in a penitentiary!

_Monday, September 8th_.--We did not go anywhere last evening but strolled about the garden. Mr. Brand, son of the late Speaker, Mr. Morris, member of the Senate, and another man, dined. Mr. Morris was Governor of Manitoba. He said in the year 1870 Winnipeg was a little wild village. Now, when I asked him about buying a few things at Toronto for the Rocky Mountains expedition, he exclaimed "Oh! wait until you get to Winnipeg, you can get everything there!" He described a ball he had given to some royalties (I forget which) and how he had to scour the country for three hundred miles round to get provisions enough for the supper, in the year 1874. In my youth I remember reading of Winnipeg, Fort William and Lake Superior as the outposts of the Hudson Bay Company, and how travellers, trappers, &c., endured all manner of hardships, and crossed hikes with Indians carrying the canoes from lake to lake, and guiding them through endless swamps and rocky bills, until half-frozen and starved they arrived quite exhausted at these distant forts. Now we travel by rail in a private car, and Mr. Donald Smith has a country house near Winnipeg, to which he invited us, and all along there are "rising cities" which did not exist in any shape five years ago. When this Canadian Pacific Railway is finished to British Columbia, and the Atlantic and Pacific are united by it in one, our "Dominion" then ought to have a splendid future. I don't think I told you about Mr. Tan Horn's conversation with me at Montreal he said "we are a great deal too quiet in Canada; we don't puff ourselves enough or make enough of our advantages and our doings. Why, we live next door to fifty millions of liars and we must brag or we shall be talked out."

_Monday, later_.--I have just returned from a drive with Miss M--- and Hedley to Toronto, and I am surprised at its size and importance, and busy look and general air of English prosperity and neatness. Though Montreal is very pretty, the town is too French and idle-looking to be impressive--there are numbers of well-kept villas and gardens here. We are now going out to see a regatta on Lake Ontario and to the island. Lady M--- said last night, when making arrangements, "I think this will suit the young people," and I exclaimed "Don't put me among the old ones, please," so I am going. Sir D--- has gone to Ottawa on Ministerial business.

Letter No. 5.

_September 12th, Niagara Falls._

On Tuesday we drove with John, and Dr. Wilson showed us over the University and some pretty sketches he had taken. We got berths on board the steamer from Owen Sound on Saturday. It is difficult to find out who manages these things, and we had telegrams going to two or three places before we could make certain of our berths. At four o'clock all sorts of people called, being Lady Macpherson's "at home" day, and many on me and E---. I don't admire Canadian women _especially_! We had fourteen at dinner and a delightful old Irishman, Chief Justice Haggerty, took me in. The Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Robinson, though only the Provincial Governor, is treated as the representative of the Queen, and goes before every one. Professor Godwin Smith and his wife were also of the party. He says (but I am sure he is prejudiced and that it is not true) that the Canadian Government is just as corrupt and that there is as much bribery as in the States. Mr. G. Smith differs in opinion with every one, for the Liberal side would not publish his letters in the papers, and so he sent them to the Conservatives, and he says they are far more impartial and just.

_Wednesday, 10th_.--We started here at one o'clock, first by steamer on Lake Ontario. It was refreshing after being nearly melted at Toronto, for there was a good breeze. The size of these inland seas strike one much. We arrived at Niagara about four, and found Mr. Plumb, John's quondam friend of eighteen years ago, waiting for us in waggonette, and we drove at once to his pretty house, surrounded by peach orchards and vines, an untidy but pretty garden. He asked after Leonard and Mary. Then we had tea, presided over by his pretty daughter of sixteen, and then the train by his orders stopped for us at his garden door, and, as he informed me, the last time it did so, was for the Prince of Wales! We arrived here, Clifton House, the Hotel, by a picturesque railway journey, and are opposite the American Falls, and the Horse Shoe Falls are on our right, nearly facing us. Like many other people, I am rather ashamed to confess I am not as much impressed and overwhelmed as I ought to be! Dick took a note from Mr. Plumb to his nephew, Mr. Macklem, and he arranged to call for us at three. In the morning we drove to the Rapids and Whirlpool, and went up and down all sorts of queer places in _queerer_ elevators. The river looked beautiful, a blue-green colour, and the whirlpool is mysteriously curious, where poor Captain Webb disappeared! In the afternoon the Macklems took us to the American side on the fine Suspension Bridge, and then to Prospect Park, Goat Island, and different peeps and vistas of the Falls and Rapids. I think the immense breadth and volume of water, with the incessant rush and roar of the river, strike me more than the actual Falls. We saw some rapids between the islands "Weird Sisters," and finally drove to Mr. Macklem's place, surrounded by rapid streams of the Niagara and very pretty. There seems no end to this river, it has so many turns and arms and rapids. We had tea (by this time I was nearly dead), and three dear small boys appeared; one only two and half had a violin, and he imitated a person playing on it, and made the sounds with his voice in the most amusing clever way, and laughed so merrily when we shouted applause. Mr. Macklem drove us home, and after dinner we played whist in E---'s nice bedroom. This morning I am not well! We have seen the maids off with the luggage by early rail and boat for Toronto and follow in afternoon.

_Friday, continuing_.--I was unable to see anything more of Niagara; the others crossed the ferry. We left at twenty minutes to five, and owing to the steamer being late on Lake Ontario we did not reach the Macpherson's till half-past nine. They waited dinner, and we rushed down, at least I did, just twelve minutes after my arrival, and also dressed! A Mr. Pattison, a very agreeable-looking man, who seems an authority on farming, and a Mr. and Mrs. Plumb (son of our Niagara friend), who was once at T--- P---, but I had entirely forgotten him. Mr. Pattison spoke of the ignorant, idle, good-for-nothing young men sent out here to make a living by their worried relations, sometimes with scarcely a sixpence, in which case they starved but for the charity of himself and others, or if with any money they fell into bad hands and lost everything. So many are sent here that he has made a kind of home for the destitute.

_Saturday Morning_.--Sir David M--- returned from Ottawa, and we breakfasted together. We nearly missed the train at Toronto (not having Miss M--- to keep us in order; I call her Queen Christina, she is so masterful), but just managed to get ourselves and luggage in, and to see George Bunburg, whom I had made several attempts to see before, and who I hear is enterprising and likely to do well. We reached Owen Sound, and got into the steamer all right about three o'clock. Nice farms nearly all along the line.

_Sunday, 14th September_.--I slept pretty comfortably. We got into a narrow passage between Lakes Superior and Huron, which was pretty and curious, great numbers of islands and a very narrow path marked out for steamers, which, as we met several, made the risk of collision seem very imminent; they moved very slowly, and have established regular rules of the road, but cannot travel by night, or if a fog comes on. St. Mary le Soult is a pretty place, on one side American, where they have made a lock to avoid the rapids from Lake Huron to Lake Superior. We waited some time to get into the lock, and then found ourselves in the largest lake in the world, five hundred miles long by three hundred and fifty miles wide. Of course, it is like the sea, and while I am writing it is rough enough to make it difficult. No land is in sight. I have had a talk with an Archdeacon who lives near St. John's College, Winnipeg, and is reading "Natural Law;" it is really getting very rough and I must stop.

_Tuesday, 16th_.--I am writing in the train, and I am thankful to be alive in it. We arrived at Port Arthur at eight o'clock yesterday, 15th, but could hear nothing of our private car, and when the train arrived no car still to be seen. At last, after hunting about and asking, everyone, it turned up, and was very satisfactory. Two men were there to wait on us, and it was well provisioned, and we set off about an hour and-half late, but no one minds such a trifle in these parts. At first the line was fairly straight and smooth, but then the country became wonderfully wild, with rocky hills covered with stumpy trees and undergrowth of brilliant colouring, and wooded lakes without end. In and out we wound, sometimes over most light and primitive bridges, and over high embankments, often running along the margin of the lakes, consisting of loose sand, which frequently rolled down the sides as we went over them. It rained nearly all day, and towards night it poured and was pitch dark. I was just undressed, and congratulating myself that we had been standing still at a station, and so I had been able to do it comfortably, and just got into my sofa bed, with Dick and Hedley opposite me behind their curtains, when we set off, and in a few minutes I felt a violent concussion; so many jerks come in common course that I was not frightened, but we stopped, and then our head man came to the door and said with dignity, "I think it right to announce to you, my lady, that an accident has happened." "What is it?" "The engine went over a culvert bridge all right, but the baggage wagon next to it fell, down off the line, and as we were going slowly they put on the brake and no other carriage followed." "Can we go on to-night?" "Oh no, the roadway is broken up." This was a shock to my nerves, but at any rate we were safe for the night, and after running in and telling John and E---, we soon all fell asleep. During the night they tacked on an engine, with its great lamp eye at the back of our car (we are the last carriage), and every few minutes this monster gave a tremendous snort, but nothing awoke Hedley, who slumbered peacefully through it all. We got up early, rushed off to the scene of the disaster, as did all the other passengers. It was marvellous that the engine went over that bridge, for really the rails were almost suspended in mid air, but fortunately for us it did, or we should have followed and telescoped, and probably been hurt or killed, the baggage wagon being suspended between the engine and cars, all on one side and down the bank close to the lake, the window broken through which the guard jumped out. We trembled for our luggage, which was all there. The lakes and gaily coloured hills that elsewhere I should admire, make our railroad so dangerous that we have to creep along, sometimes over long spidery wooden bridges, and again on most shaky and uncertain looking embankments, and round sharp corners; every now and then we stop for no apparent reason, and then all rush to the platform of our car to see what is the matter. Once a party of the railway officials got out and ran back; we thought some of our luggage had fallen out, but it seems one of the bridges over which we had just passed was rather shaky, and they went to investigate. If we had gone on last night we meant to be detached at Rat Portage, or Lake of the Woods, but now we go on to Winnipeg if, please God, we can get there.