348 EESEMBLANCE TO THE IRISH. 



apparently very unpromising places in which some of 

 the new settlers had built their log-houses, and were 

 beginning to clear the land. In rocky spots, and along 

 damp boggy hollows, where little available land ap- 

 peared, the love of a neighbouring home, I suppose, of 

 society, and of being near their relations, had caused 

 many to select their farms and fix their future dwellings. 

 The solitude of the remote clearing, where the land is 

 better — into which even the Irishman with his family, 

 supported and sustained by his passion for the " bit of 

 land," will boldly venture — is unsuited to the less ener- 

 getic and self-dependent habits of the French Canadian 

 and his superstitiously-religious feelings. 



The monuments of their industry, however — as in 

 some of the rocky parts of Ireland — are every now and 

 then conspicuous in these unpromising places. The 

 piles of stones, of all sizes, I saw collected here and 

 there, as I drove through the clearings, spoke strongly 

 not only for their industry but for their perseverance. 

 The fields, when thus cleared, often afford good land ; 

 but the expense of labour in clearing these unpromising 

 spots must be enormous, and is quite beyond the ability 

 of immigrant settlers from a foreign country. 



I was struck to-day with a general resemblance in the 

 outward appearance of this people to our poorer Irish. 

 The broken panes in the windows of the houses were 

 stuffed with old hats, and the clothes on the backs of the 

 peasantry were often in tatters. On the other hand, 

 the stylish French character of the improved houses, 

 whitened over with quicklime, and the evident desire 

 everywhere to build these better houses, showed an 

 apparent aversion to live in misery and filth, for which 

 the humbler Irish are by no means distinguished. Even 

 here, however, the likeness may be thought to hold. 

 These externally fine houses are anything but clean and 

 comfortable — according to our notions — within j and the 



