CITY OF ST JOHN. 39 



Canada ? Or were the mines of the country of such value 

 as to make up for the faUure both of lumber and of corn, 

 and to enable New Brunswick to keep pace in future 

 progress with the adjoining states and provinces ? 



Such were the ideas and questions which had been 

 passing through men's minds when I was honoured with 

 the request to visit the colony, and give an opinion upon 

 its agricultural capabiUties. I trust that the result of my 

 tour has been to inspire new hopes and awaken new con- 

 fidence in the food-producing and population-sustaining 

 powers of the land of this valuable colony, though it has 

 lessened very much in ray mind the opinion I had pre- 

 viously derived from books as to the extent of its 

 mineral resources. 



The city of St John is situated at the mouth of the 

 river of the same name, which falls into the Bay of Fundy. 

 It has a safe, though not extensive harbour, the entrance 

 of which is defended by Partridge and other small 

 islands. The principal part of the town is situated upon 

 a rocky peninsula, which stretches into the harbour, but 

 it is now extending itself in various directions over the 

 adjoining crags and hollows. Notwithstanding the de- 

 pression of trade which had for some time prevailed, the 

 surface of naked rocks was, at the time of my visit, selling 

 at the rate of £100 an acre for building purposes ; and 

 tasteful cottages, on picturesque sites, were springing up 

 in the neighbourhood of the city. The older inhabitants 

 of the city, the descendants of American loyalists, have 

 many interesting facts to relate regarding its growth, 

 upon what, sixty years ago, was a rocky headland, 

 skirted by cedar swamps ; and, considering the still 

 generally uncleared condition of the province, and the 

 position of the city itself, its progress has been at least as 

 rapid as that of any of the greater cities on the Atlantic 

 border of the North American continent. 



Yet that there has been a serious change for the worse 



