KO EMIGRATION. 63 



mills, but its neighbourhood is as yet unsettled. The 

 Indians are just returned from Sandwich, whither they had 

 been to receive their annual gifts or presents from govern 

 ment, of blankets, guns, knives, tomahawks, &c. &c. which 

 are generally bartered immediately for a little whisky, &c. 

 The timber on the flats of the Creeks is very tall and 

 straight, with little underbrush, indicating the richness 

 of the land. Two kinds of ash timber here I had not seen 

 before, called blue and hoop-ash ; both very tough, and the 

 latter well adapted for making hoops, whence it derives its 

 name. I am told there are very fine large hops growing 

 hereabouts. As beer is coming into use hops can be culti 

 vated to advantage, as they thrive remarkably well ; and 

 some raised in the province sell from IQd. to 2s. per pound. 

 Corn is seven or eight feet high, and pumpkins (Americans 

 call them punkins} are very large, nearly as much as a man 

 can carry. Pumpkins are cut in slices, and dried, for 

 making pies in winter ; they are also excellent for fattening 

 cattle and milch cows in winter, superior I think to any 

 turnips, and give beef a fine golden colour; they must be 

 preserved in cellars from the frost. They are generally 

 sown among the Indian corn, and answer very well, as they 

 do not injure, nor are injured by it. Saw six acres of new 

 cleared ground, with its first crop on ; viz. corn, oats, peas, 

 kidney beans, turnips, cabbages, cucumbers, melons, and 

 tobacco, and all very fine. The owner said this first crop 

 would pay for clearing the land, and all other expenses 

 attending the crop. Tobacco is becoming quite a staple ar 

 ticle of produce in these western parts of the province. I 

 am told there are several hundred acres of land in tobacco 

 towards Amherstburgh this season : while it continues to be 

 used so generally, and I fear excessively, it will pay the 

 cultivator much better than any grain crop. Land here 

 adapted for it (rich sand or loam) producing from eight to 

 fifteen cwt. per acre, and selling to the merchants at from 

 I/, to \L 12s. or I/. 15s. per cwt. according to quality and 

 demand at home. Black slaves, who have run away from 

 their masters in Kentucky, arrive in Canada almost weekly 

 (where they are free), and work at raising tobacco; I 

 believe they introduced the practice. One person will attend, 

 and manage the whole process of four acres, planting, 

 hoeing, budding, &c. during the summer. Called on a re 

 spectable family from Hertfordshire; I mean an orderly, 



