24 



Tilden's tavern, is now bare of trees, and is known as Flander's Hill. Tilden's out-build- 

 ings may still be seen from it ; but the tavern itself was burned some years ago. Smith's 

 mills are standing yet, dwarfed and hidden by more imposing structures. Mollis Smith, 

 to whom these mills belonged, moved into Sherbrooke, and become the member of Parlia- 

 ment for that city. He has been dead for some years. The village of Waterville with 

 its churches, public schools, post office, railway station, manufactories, etc., has grov/n up 

 since Gosse left the country. 



Only one man in "Waterville, as far as I can learn, remembers Gosse. This is Captain 

 Parker, (a descendant of the famous Admiral Parker), whose father owned the adjoining 

 lot to that of Tilden's. The Captain when a boy, met Gosse in the Brule net in hand. 

 He remembers two things concerning him : (1) that he was clad in rough frieze cloth ; 

 (2) tliat he wore remarkably clean linen. " Biled shirts " were not common in that neigh- 

 bourhood at that time. 



In Waterville I parted with my friend Mr. Bliss. 



Returning to the Gosse farm after a night spent at the village hotel, I found that 

 there had been a hard frost in the night — one of those early frosts that Gosse complained 

 of (p. 110). This had whitened the meadows and the foliage. The sun however rose 

 bright and warm. On my way to the farm I came to a dip in the road (p. 180) with 

 willows growing thick on either side. As I passed there was a constant pattering on the 

 dead herbage beneath — the sun gaining strength was thawing the frost on the leaves, and 

 drops fell 



" like the first of a thunder shower." 



A little runnel tinkled and bubbled over the stones by the road. side, hastening to join the 

 Coaticook in the valley. Its banks were thick with moss. The slight sounds that arose 

 seemed but to intensify the calm that boooded around. From the groves beyond the river 

 were heard the whistle of the robin, and (softened by the distance) the cry of the blue jay. 

 This spot in Gosse's day was prolific in insect life ; as, I dare say, it is still. It was here 

 that he captured the Baltimore Fritillary (Melitcca Phaeton'), pictured on page 227 of his 

 work. 



When I reached the higher ground I turned; and what a glorious view was presented 

 to me i A lovely rolling country opened towards the north, its rounded hills tufted with 

 maple woods. Columns of white steam and dun smoke, rising amidst hills of more moun- 

 tain-like formation, showed where the mining works of Capelton were located. Between 

 the spot on which I stood and those distant hills was the rise, forming the middle distance, 

 on which Tilden's tavern formerly stood. Around the spot, as in the days of Gosse, but 

 more restricted, and now of second growth, is a stretch of woodland, which in the many 

 hues of autumn, and lit by the brilliant morning sun, was very beautiful. The poplars 

 were clad in richest chrome ; the maples and beeches in various hues of ochre, sienna, 

 Indian red, and crimson ; while here and there a tamarack (lonely survivors of the Nema- 

 tus raid) stood pale yellow amid the more richly coloured trees. 



In the valley near me the placid Coaticook pursued its even way. The light green 

 of the willows that fringed its banks formed the basis of a mass of foliage rising with the 

 hill-side, in which was blended the brown-green of the white cedar, the sombre hues of 

 the black spruce, and the brighter Brunswick green of the balsam. Here and there the 

 boscage was broken by farm buildings and russet pastures, 



Near the railway, not many rods from Gosse's farm and at a bend in the stream, was 

 a small neglected burial-ground in which the white rounded head-stones rose amidst a 

 tangle of brambles, golden-rod and everlastings. I walked over to it and found it recorded 

 on one of the stones that Henry Learned died August 13th 1837. (Gosse may have 

 attended his funeral). He was laid beside " Lovy " his wife. 



Returning I found the point of view on which Gosse stood when he drew the sketch 

 of his farm. The property having been added to a larger one, and seemingly used for 

 pasturage only, is probably very much in the condition in which Gosse left it. The land 

 is not particularly good — in the division Jaques seems to have had the better share. 



