156 FIRST SETTLERS. 



five children; and was, I believe, without a female servant or 

 help. The children were thus the third generation which 

 had been reared in comparative seclusion on the banks of the 

 Grand River. The softness of manner, ease, and good- 

 Jmmour of the children, appeared equal to families in the 

 better ranks of life in rny native country, and I was anxious 

 to ascertain if this gentleness of manner was real. With 

 this view I romped, fondled, and teased, within and without 

 doors, the small boys, without ruffling their tempers ; and 

 trust my little friends Hamilton and Nielson will in age dis 

 play matured fruits of their sweet and early blossoms. Man 

 ner, like the disposition of children, is, to a certain extent, the 

 gift of nature ; but the example of parents deeply affects 

 families, more especially when shut out from society. This 

 family unquestionably owed much to the good sense and 

 conduct of both parents, and ought to go far in satisfying people 

 in Britain that their children will not necessarily become 

 savages by being removed to the woods of Canada, if they 

 themselves lead proper lives, which they ought to do for their 

 children s sake, if not for their own. 



I have already mentioned a dam across the Grand River at 

 Dunville for supplying water to the Welland Canal, and 

 which throws back the water in the channel of the river for 

 nearly twenty miles, until it reaches the Nellis Settlement. 

 The beauty of the river has been injured below this point by 

 the stagnant water having covered the low lands, destroyed 

 the trees, and imparted a marshy and gloomy character to the 

 banks. In the Nellis Settlement, the river possesses much of 

 its original character, and is truly fine, gliding around some 

 fertile and beautiful islands, while the rich flat lands on the banks 

 extend a considerable distance back, and terminate in an undu 

 lating surface. The low land on the banks of the river is what 

 is termed bottom, or interval land, in some parts of America, 

 and is a fine rich loamy soil. The undulating ground is clay 

 of good quality, and has not been cleared to any extent. The 

 low lands are altogether cleared, though adorned with single 

 and wide-spreading trees ; and it is here most of the settlers 

 reside. If the Grand River is rendered navigable to Brant- 

 ford by means of locks, as is talked of, the charms of the 



