PETERBOROUGH RICE LAKE. 123 



Colonel B , a Scotchman, who, when seated at table, 



stated he was from East Lothian. Knowing almost every 

 individual in the district, I said in a tone of surprise, &quot; Are 

 you serious ? &quot; and scanned his features very closely. An 

 swering in the affirmative, I asked if his name was Robert, if 

 he had a brother, and immediately introduced myself as a 

 class-fellow at the school of Haddington in 1806, not having 

 since met or perhaps heard of each other. We talked over 

 old stories, and I was delighted to find my friend possessed of 

 one of the neatest and most comfortable cottages in the finest 

 situation in Peterborough. 



Peterborough is on the Otanabee, and likely to become a 

 place of some importance. At present there are a number of 

 mean houses scattered over a considerable extent of surface, 

 and the population is stated at 1000 souls, although I would not 

 have rated them near so high. It is said to contain a number 

 of military and naval half-pay officers of Britain, and the 

 society to be the most polished and aristocratic in Canada. 



In the forenoon we walked up the left bank of the river to 



visit Mr T , whom we met by the way, accompanied by 



his lady, who continued her journey on horseback, and he 

 returned with us. In the evening we walked up the river 

 side, passing an excellent mill-site, on which grist and saw 

 mills were being erected, until we reached a string of lakes, 

 through which the Otanabee flows. The road up the banks 

 of the river was just opening, the trees had not been felled 



the length of Mr T s, and in our evening walk some parts 



of the tract could only be crossed by leaping, like squirrels, 

 from trunk to trunk of fallen trees. On one occasion my friend 



D s feet slipped, and he fell on his face, with both arms 



fixed in the mud. 



We left Peterborough for Coburg on 22d July, by way of 

 Rice Lake, and remarked that two-thirds of the people seen 

 on the road were tipsy. This was a painful sight, which the 

 heat of the weather did not soften or justify. 



Rice Lake takes its name from the quantity of rice floating 

 on its waters ; it is surrounded by gentle rising banks, and con 

 tains several small islands. The lake is formed by the waters 

 of the Otanabee, which, from the lake to within a short dis- 



