from the Ottawa, and many hundred miles in the interior, and covering the surface of nearly an acre, bound together by clamps of wood into a solid stage, on which are erected small wooden houses, the dwellings of the raftsmen, from 30 to 50 in number. In the winter, these white pines are felled, the trees topped of their branches and squared, and dragged by horses over the deep snow to the rivers, where upon the ice the rafts are formed. When the thaw in the spring opens up the mountain streams, the stout lumberers boldly trust themselves on these rafts, directing their course with long oars, and hoisting occasionally square sails, until after a sail of many weeks, and encountering much danger and hardship, they arrive at Quebec.

Quebec is not so healthy as Montreal, as one death occurs there annually in every 41, whereas at Montreal there is only one in every 51. Taking the whole of Lower Canada, there is one death in every 53; whereas taking the whole of England, there is one in 46, which shews that Lower Canada is healthier than England. This explains why the French population increase so rapidly. They not only marry when very young, but continue fruitful till an advanced period of life; thus exhibiting the beautiful effects of a genial climate upon the female constitution. Many French Canadian mothers have 15 children, and there are two cases mentioned of them having 25! O what a blessing?" Nous sommes terribles pour les enfants," as a French Canadian remarked. It is owing to this remarkable fecundity that the population of Lower Canada doubles itself every 28 or 30 years, with but comparatively small addition to their numbers by immigration. The average of births there is 1 in every 21, and the deaths 1. in 53; whilst in England the births are 1 in 33, and the deaths 1 in 46.

The line of railway, projected from Halifax to Quebec, passing through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, is almost essential to the future possession of Canada, as the emigrant from home, and the produce from the west, would then pass through British waters and over British territories only, without enriching the coffers of a foreign state. The Americans, with their great mercantile acuteness, are making every effort to direct the trade of Canada into their own channels, and to make us in every way dependent on them for our communications. The Drawback Bill, by which the Customs' Duties on foreign goods are refunded on their passing on into our provinces, has already been attended with great success in obtaining for them a portion of our carrying trade, especially during the winter, when the great highway of the St Lawrence is closed by the ice for five months, viz. from about the 1st of December to the 1st of May.

This railway from Quebec to Halifax will be 600 miles long, and sixteen millions of dollars were voted for it by the Canadian Parliament in 1851. The distance from Halifax to Galway, on the west coast of Ireland is 2100 miles, so that supposing a steamer to sail 300 miles a-day, Halifax will be reached in seven days from Galway. The average passage of sailing vessels from England to Quebec is six weeks, and from Quebec to England four weeks.

The several decks of the magnificent steamer from Quebec, on which we embarked at Port St Francis for Montreal, presented such a motley group of individuals from different parts of the world as it would be in vain to search for anywhere else. Here were assembled together, Norwegians, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, Germans, English, Irish, and Scotch Highlanders, with their blue bonnets, talking Gaelic, all hastening from their ancient abodes in Europe to the new, though distant land of promise in the

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far west; whilst numbers of French Canadians and Roman Catholic priests, in their well-known costumes, interspersed with Red Indians, Upper Canadian farmers, United States' citizens, &c., formed altogether a scene such as I never saw before and never expect to meet with again. I heard ten different languages spoken in about as many minutes. Though called Red Indians, their complexion is not red, but somewhat darker than untarnished copper. A great intercourse betwixt Quebec and Montreal takes place in the steamers that ply daily during the season. The distance betwixt the two places is 180 miles, and they accomplish the voyage in 11 hours on descending, and 13 in ascending the river, the fare being 3s. 9d. currency in the steerage, and 10s. currency (7s. 6d. sterling) in the cabin, where you are furnished with tea and bed gratis. The seat of government was transferred from Toronto to Quebec in 1851.

Before leaving this part of my subject, I may mention, that amidst all their drawbacks, farmers in Canada East have a great advantage, in being able to fatten their stock during the abundance of summer; and by killing them at the first cold weather, they keep frozen, to be disposed of at their pleasure; so that in all the markets of that province, during winter, you purchase frozen masses of beef, mutton, deer, fowls, cod, and even milk, which is sold in lumps by the pound.

CHAPTER XIV.

Voyage on the St Lawrence from Montreal to Kingston in Upper Canada -Description of Kingston-Provincial Penitentiary-Horrible Murder of Mr Kinnear-Lake Ontario-Description of Toronto-Price of Provisions Mr William Lyon Mackenzie-Letter from him to the Author -Lunatic Asylum at Toronto-Interview with the Earl of Elgin-Dr Durie, K.H.-Change in the Climate of Upper Canada-Beauty and Fertility of the Country-Annexation of Canada to the United StatesMr James B. Brown's Work on Canada.

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Having taken leave of my kind friends at Montreal, İ proceeded by the steamer up the St Lawrence to Kingston in Upper Canada, distant 180 miles from Montreal. The sail is the grandest one imaginable, and for 25 miles below Kingston the "thousand isles," as they are termed, adorn that majestic river. Between Prescott and Kingston, the county of Glengarry, the residence of many thousand Highland families, most of whom still speak Gaelic, lay on our right.

In the steamers on the St Lawrence the fare generally includes the expenses of the table for cabin, though not for steerage passengers. On reaching the river Hudson, however, and sailing from Albany to New York, the passage money is exclusive of provisions, so that you have there, as the Americans emphatically term it, "To eat yourself."

Kingston contains 15,000 inhabitants, and is beauti

fully situate at the junction of Lake Ontario with the stream running out of it, which is now for the first time called the St Lawrence, and is there 12 miles broad. It rises with a gentle slope from the river to the summitlevel of the town, about 50 feet above that of the river. The market-house is a magnificent building, but like that of Montreal, it may be called a market-place without a market. By far the finest thing however, to be seen, is the penitentiary, and having been furnished with a letter of introduction from my esteemed friend Mr Hopkirk, collector of the Customs there, to the Warden, I readily procured admittance. Though called the provincial penitentiary, it is for the whole of Canada.

The system pursued in this penitentiary is similar to that of the state prison at Auburn, in the State of New York, and may be called the "silent, but not the solitary system." The prisoners all work at their various occupations in different rooms, without being allowed to speak to one another, and keepers are set over them to enforce silence. A long account of the Auburn prison will be found in Stuart's Travels in America. Mr Macdonell, the warden of the penitentiary, was exceedingly polite, and gave me a list of the number of prisoners as on 16th September 1850, the day of my visit, which I found to be 366 males and 34 females, making 400 in all. The building is on a magnificent scale, and no one who visits Kingston should omit seeing it. They were in the act of building a large addition to it, and the stone-masons and stone-cutters employed were all prisoners. It was a singular thing to walk among so many hundred desperate characters and never hear a word spoken. The area of ground enclosed within the high walls which surround it, amounts to several acres, and a few sentries, not prisoners, are placed on the walls with loaded guns, so that