344 



CANADA. 



Canada, incite them to baffle death, with all its horrors, by 

 w -v ^ their own poinards. At the same time, if their 

 hearts failed them in this necessary act, he was him- 

 self ready to perform the deed of mercy with his 

 own hand, as the last act of his affection, and in- 

 stantly to follow them to the common place of rest 

 and refuge from human evil." (M'Kenzie's Travels, 

 Jntrod. p. xv.) The prevalence of other European 

 disorders, arid the pernicious effects of spiritous li- 

 quors, are rapidly completing the destruction of the 

 native tribes ; and the traveller may pass through 

 districts of many hundred miles, without meeting one 

 human inhabitant. 



The Indian?, who inhabit the settled parts of Ca- 

 nada, are greatly degenerated in many of the noble 

 characteristics of the more savage tribes ; and they 

 are represented as dirty, diminutive, half-naked, ex- 

 cessively stupid in their appearance, and altogether 

 most miserable-looking creatures. The progress of 

 the missionaries among them, once extended as far as 

 the excursions of the fur- traders ; but there is, at the 

 present day, scarcely a vestige of their pious labours 

 to be found, beyond the cultivated parts ; and even 

 such of the natives as have been converted to Chris- 

 tianity by the Canadian Catholics, though in many 

 instances wonderfully reformed in their external con- 

 duct, are, in general, very little civilized ; and still 

 continue powerfully attached to a wandering state of 

 life. One of the gentlest of all the tribes, known 

 by the name of Mountaineers, dwells around lake 

 Saguenay: they are the most decent and industrious 

 in their manners, they make no use of offensive wea- 

 pons, and even spiritous liquors do not excite them 

 to violence ; yet they cannot be persuaded regularly to 

 cultivate the lands, or to continue in any laborious 

 occupation. In another village, at the rapids of St 

 Ann, about two miles above Montreal, are two Indian 

 tribes, one of the Iroquois and another of the Al- 

 gonquin nation, who have both been Christianized, 

 since the first occupation of the country by the 

 French, who regularly attend divine service in a 

 chapel of their own, who have "been instructed by 

 their pastors in reading and writing, and who possess 

 more religious information than many among the 

 lower Canadians ; but who are still said to have made 

 no farther advances to a state of civilization, and still 

 to retain their old habits, customs/ and languages. 

 The women sow a few patches of ground with maize 

 and vegetables during .summer ; but, in the winter 

 season, they leave their habitations and instructors to 

 follow the chase, after the manner of their forefathers ; 

 and the same is affirmed to be the condition of most 

 of the Indian settlements within the more cultivated 

 districts of Canada. 



Canadian The more immediate and stationary population of 

 population, Canada, when it came into the possession of the Bri 

 tish in 1760, amounted, by General Murray's report, 

 to 75,600 souls ; but, at that period, the extensive 

 country, now denominated Upper Canada, was not 

 inhabited by any Europeans. At present, the lower 

 province contains about 200,000 inhabitants ; of 

 whom the descendants of the old Canadians, who pro- 

 fess the Roman Catholic religion, and are allowed the 

 use of the old French laws, constitute at least nine 

 tenths. In Upper Canada the population amounts 



to nearly 100,000, who are chiefly British or Ameri- Canada. 



cans, speak the English language, and are governed ^ "v * 



entirely by the laws of England, both in civil and 

 criminal cases. Thus the inhabitants of Lower Ca- 

 nada have nearly tripled within the last 50 years ; 

 while in the upper province, the increase has been 

 still more rapid. Several years elapsed, after the con- 

 quest, before the latter was settled and cultivated ; 

 and so late as the year 1780, it was almost one con- 

 tinued forest. Much of its immense population, with- 

 in 30 years, has been formed by emigrants from Great 

 Britain and the United States, who generally prefer- 

 red a settlement in the upper province, because the 

 soil and climate are superior, the lands cheaper and 

 easier procured, while the laws, languages, and habits, 

 are all purely British. 



Any peculiarities in the modes of life among the Manners 

 inhabitants of Canada are most observable during the and cus- 

 season of winter, which in that country presents a 

 view of nature perfectly new to the natives of Great 

 Britain. In this season the appearance and dress of 

 the Canadians are completely changed ; and instead 

 of the hat and red bonnet, nothing is to be seen but 

 fur caps, fur cloaks, fur gloves, and worsted stock- 

 ings, both over and under the boots. Unless pro- 

 tected in this manner, they could not venture, with 

 impunity, into the severity of the frosty atmosphere; 

 but, even under such a load of clothing, they are able 

 to walk with the greatest agility, and to take abun- 

 dant exercise, without being fatigued. When travel- 

 ling in the cold of winter, they are still more com- 

 pletely covered with a double cloak, muff, and tippet, 

 all of fur ; and when they intend to deviate from the 

 ordinary tract, and go into the woods, they make use 

 of snow shoes, which are made of a kind of net-work, 

 fixed upon a frame, above 2 feet in length, 18 inches 

 broad, and shaped like a paper kite. This simple 

 instrument of walking takes in so much surface of 

 snow, that the feet sink but a few inches, and the 

 progress is rendered inconceivably easy. On account 

 of the depth of the snow, it would be impossible to 

 travel with wheel carriages ; and a kind of sledge, 

 which passes over the surface without sinking deep, 

 and which is called a cariole, is substituted in their 

 place. The body of this conveyance is shaped like 

 a phaeton, a vis-a-vis, a family coach, or a market 

 cart, according to the fancy of the owner, and the 

 particular use to which it is applied. It is fixed upon 

 mnners as they are called, which resemble in form 

 the irons of skaits, rising up in front after a similar 

 manner ; and it is generally 9 or 12, though sometimes 

 18 inches above the snow. These vehicles are, for the 

 most part, light open carriages, drawn by one horse ; 

 but, though the snow under their tracts soon becomes 

 firm and smooth, yet from the improper construction, 

 of the carioles in common use, it is so full of inequa- 

 lities, called cahots, that their motion is described by 

 travellers as greatly resembling the rowing of a boat 

 against a head sea, and as requiring long custom, to 

 reconcile a stranger to bear it easily. The small 

 rivers, ditches,. and fences, are so filled with snow, as 

 to be upon a level with the fields on every side ; and 

 the country people, when they first form their tracts, 

 direct their carioles by the nearest course, or where 

 the snow is most level, without regarding the summer 



