VIEW OF THE RIVER ST JOHN. 177 



year. But mingle these same men in twos and threes 

 among a great predominance of a steadier race, and the 

 restraint and influence of new example makes their 

 children steadier men than their fathers, and more rea 

 sonable and*contented citizens. 



At the Han well Settlement, also Irish, and less pros 

 perous and extensive than the Harvey, I did not linger. 

 It is within eight or ten miles of Fredericton, and 

 on inferior land. The grey sandstones in fact, a sort 

 of stony wilderness continues thence the whole way to 

 Fredericton. Everywhere blocks of drifted stone and 

 rock strew the surface, or are seen in situ. Beneath 

 the drifted grey rocks, an admixture of red matter was 

 visible in the soil the debris, no doubt, of red marl 

 rocks towards the north or north-west. Were the super 

 ficial stones removed, there are many places where this 

 red material is in sufficient quantity to form a produc 

 tive soil; but it will be long before labour can be 

 profitably expended in clearing a stony surface like this, 

 which seems almost to set the reclaimer at defiance. 



From the high ground above Fredericton, I again felt 

 how very delightful it is, after such a journey as this, to 

 feast the eyes, weary of stony barrens and perpetual 

 pines, upon the beautiful river JSt John. 1 thought it, 

 on this occasion, one of the finest rivers I had anywhere 

 seen. Calm, broad, clear, just visibly flowing on, full 

 to its banks, and reflecting from its surface the graceful 

 American elms which at intervals fringe its shores, it 

 has all the beauty of a long lake without its lifelessness. 

 But its accessories are as yet chiefly those of nature 

 wooded ranges of hills varied in outline, now retiring 

 from, and now approaching the water s edge, with an 

 occasional clearing, and a rare white-washed house with 

 its still more rarely visible inhabitants, and stray cattle. 

 These differ widely from the numerous craft and massive 



VOL. II. M 



