[BouriNor] ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE PROVINCES 33 
Europe, tazzi, marbles, sculpture in lava or alabaster, miniature copies of 
the eternal Sibyl and Cenci, Raphael’s Vatican” such things “ag are 
seldom found so far inland, but cosa altra piu cara or at least piu rare.” 
Such examples of European tastes and habits were, however, few in 
number and contrasted strangely with the common characteristics of the 
Canadian settlements, the humble log huts of the poor immigrant, 
struggling with axe and hoe amid the stumps to make a home for his 
family. Year by year the sunlight was let into the dense forests, and 
fertile meadows soon stretched far and wide in tthe once untrodden wild- 
erness. Despite all the difficulties of a pioneer’s life, industry reaped 
its adequate rewards in the fruitful lands of the west. Bread was easily 
raised in abundance and animals of all kinds thrived. In the winter 
season, when there was relief from the engrossing demands of summer 
toil, and the snow covered, frozen soil gave opportunities for social in- 
tercourse, the people of the rural districts found amusement in “husk- 
ing” parties, barn raisings, threshing bees, and other gatherings which 
combined business and gaiety. Unhappily the great bane of the province 
was the inordinate use of liquor. Wretched inns, generally kept by a 
greedy, illiterate class of Americans, were too common in the villages and 
at the cross-roads. “The erection of a church or chapel,” says Mrs. 
Jameson, “generally preceded that of a school-house in Upper Canada, 
but the mill and the tavern invariably preceded both.” The accom- 
modation for travellers was very inferior outside of the large towns where 
some half-pay officer, or enterprising settler—generally Scotch—conde- 
scended to add to their income by taking in guests. When wheat, how- 
ever, was high, the temporary inn was closed, and the traveller had, to 
go to the general inn—generally in the sparsely settled districts—‘‘a rude 
log hut, with one window and one room, answering all purposes, a lodg- 
ing or sleeping place, divided off at one end by a few planks, outside a 
shed of bark and boughs for the horses, and a hollow trunk of a tree dis- 
posed as a trough.” At one of the highland settlements Mrs. Jameson 
rested at “Campbell’s Inn,” which consisted of a log hut and a cattle 
shed. A long pole stuck into the decayed stump of à tree in front of 
the hut, served as the sign.” With some difficulty the traveller “pro- 
cured some milk and Indian corn-cakes. The family despite their 
wretched appearance, might be considered prosperous, as they had a pro- 
perty of two hundred acres of excellent land, of which sixty acres were 
cleared and in cultivation, five cows and fifty sheep.” These people had 
come out destitute, and had won what was to them comfort in sixteen 
years, and their condition was that of thousands from Cape Breton to 
Sandwich. Between the humble emigrants, and the agricultural nobles 
R Sec. II., 1900. 3. 
